Yu-Gi-Oh Xeno
by Unknown256
Summary: Prepare to take a journey through time with your favorite characters from the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise, with some new additions along the way. (This is my first attempt at writing stories like these, so any feedback you can give me is much appreciated! Also, at later points this may become rated M for...reasons)
1. Where It All Begins

"Attention everyone in the building! There are intruder's on the premises! I repeat, there are intruder's on the premises! Lethal use of dueling is authorized! Do not let them escape alive!" "GOD DAMN IT JASON, WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THIS TIME?!" My earpiece shouts at me. "Okay okay, so things didn't go according to plan! But hey, mission accomplished and I'm on my way out right?!" I say, making a desperate attempt at humor as I make a run for my life.

"THE CHIEF'S GONNA HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR THIS YOU KNOW THAT?! THIS WAS A SIMPLE INFILTRATION TO GATHER INTEL, BUT LOOK WHAT YOU DID! HOW THE FUCK DO YOU ACCIDENTALLY GET LOCKED INTO THE MAINFRAME SERVER ROOM?!" "Ok, Ryoko, please just shut the hell up for a minute!" I duck left into an empty hallway, or so I thought. "THERE HE IS, GET HIM!" I immediately turn around and start running back the way I came. "God you make things so difficult Jason, just hold on, I'm enroute now. I'll clean up your damn mess. AGAIN."

A moment later the wall next to is blasted to bits, with a gaping hole now occupying the space it was in. "Well come on, I'm not gonna wait forever." I look up and see my partner, Ryoko Umi, standing atop her Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon, the stars in her galaxy disc sparkling just like her eyes. Oh, did I mention yet that my partner is hot as hell?! Jet black hair, bright blue eyes, and a massive bust to boot. All in all, my kind of girl. And she's only a year younger than me, so hey, it's not out of the realm of possibility right?

I smile and jump up, grasping her outstretched hand and pull myself up next to her on the dragon. In the background I hear the automated P.A. system saying something about evacuation. "All staff, please evacuate the facility. Repeat, please evacuate the facility. Containment in the Moment reactor core has failed. For your own safety, please evacuate in an orderly fashion, and have a nice day." Our Dragon roars, and suddenly we're shooting off into the sky, flying away faster than their bullets can travel. "What the hell were you thinking?! You could've gotten yourself killed, AGAIN!" I Chuckle slightly and take a seat next to her. "Yeah but I didn't did I? It all worked out in the end, and hey, mission accomplished. Everything is back on track here, just as it should be." Behind us, a huge explosion can be heard, as well as seen very easily.

I turn back to look at Ryo, my personal nickname for her, and smile. "See? Exactly according to the original history. Now Yusei will grow up in the satellite and become the savior he was meant to be." Ryo merely shakes her head in a mixture of disbelief and disappointment. "The chief is gonna peel your dick like a banana when we get back to base, you know that right?" Ryo asks softly turning away from me. "Yeah yeah, the bitch will skin me, but hey, I'll still be alive right? Not like I'm not needed. After all, we're the best at what we do!" I say trying to bring some light to this dark situation. Ryo grunts and stares off into the distance.

* * *

"You can't be serious! Chief come on, don't screw with me here, this is unreasonable, not to mention completely unfair and unnecessary!" I say desperately, trying to reason with my insane boss. "For the last time, my decision is final. You've screwed up enough together to make the entire department hate you. The two of you are done, finished, terminated, hasta la vista, like the terminator told ya. You're being reassigned to solo patrol. But don't worry about Lieutenant Umi, she'll be assigned a new partner. One that won't hold her back for once." I stand there in disbelief as my world crumbles around me. Solo patrol, a literal death sentence, even for the most experienced patrollers.

But maybe I should explain what's going on here first. My name is Jason Storm, and I'm a member of the Xeno Force, an elite group of duelists who patrol the timelines of our world, making sure that nothing deviates from its natural course of history, and bringing those who tamper with history to justice. Ordinarily, we work in teams of two, three at most, but that's normally only when we're training a new recruit. For the unlucky ones who get sent out on solo patrol, well, they don't normally make it. timelines are dangerous to those who don't belong to them, people like us. "Chief please, I'll do anything. You can't do this! This is a death sentence!" I say pleadingly. She only stares back at me, eventually dropping her head with a sigh and walking back around behind her desk. "Look Jason, you're one of our best agents, but you're too much of a wildcard. You go off on your own without backup, and then expect to be rescued when things go wrong, WHICH THEY ALWAYS DO, and on top of that, Ryoko already put in a request for a trainee a while back."

I'm stunned at that last part. Ryo put in a request to train a newbie without telling me? The room is quiet for a moment and then the chief continues. "Look, if you're really that worried about it, then how about this. We recently got a large number of recruit recommendations in from the scouters, and most of them are enroute as we speak. So here's what I propose, and this is the only offer you're getting: Take on a trainee, take em under your wing and show em the ropes. Do that, and I'll consider putting the two of you back together again. And I won't tell Lieutenant Umi about this if you don't. I'll just tell her that you're temporarily separating to focus on your new trainees, got it? So what's it gonna be hotshot?"

* * *

"Damn it!" I swear as I walk out of the chief's office. "Why the hell do I have to train a newbie? I never asked for this responsibility!" I spot Ryo leaning against the wall, checking her phone while she waited for me. "So how'd it go?" She asks without looking up. I continue walking without paying her any mind. "Wha- HEY!" She reaches out and grabs me by the arm, holding me in place. "What's the matter with you?" she asks me, almost sounding worried. I turn around to face her. "What's wrong? Oh, nothing much, just that I've got to take on a damn recruit!" I say irritated. "Ok, what? I'm going to need an explanation."

I sigh and walk over to a nearby bench, watching my co-workers walk around, getting ready to go on patrol. I see a few with recruits of their own. They look almost, happy. Ryo takes a seat next to me and stares at me, obviously expecting an explanation. I sigh again and tell her what happened with the chief, leaving out the part about us being seperated. When I'm finished she nods in understanding. "Yeah I can see why you'd be upset now." She says. "So when did you put in that request huh? I thought you said that recruits were a waste of time, something for the old paper pushers who wanted to get back out in the field and prove they were still worth something?" I ask her, still not wanting to look at her. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see her shrug her shoulders. "I did, but then I saw how they all looked when they were with their trainees. They looked, happy, at least to me. And I decided I wanted to see what could make them feel that way, so I put in a request. I didn't think you'd mind, seeing as how you normally like to do things on your own anyway.

I grunt and look away. "I just wish you had told me is all. Because now, I'm being pulled into all this drama, and all I want is to get out of it." Ryo puts her hand on my shoulder. "Hey, listen to me for a sec ok? And look at me to, it's rude to not look someone in the eyes when they're talking to you." I sigh and turn to look at her. Her face is serious, and she looks at me with this determined look in her eyes. "All you got to do is take on a trainee right? So technically, all that means is that you just have to take them out on a single mission. After that, if you don't like them, you can just pawn them off on someone else who actually wants a recruit to train. After that, you're home free and this is all over right?" Damn, she's actually right. "Alright, fine. I'll take the damn recruit. One mission right?" I ask Ryo. She nods back at me. "Then I'm gonna make sure that it's the best damn mission that they ever go through in their career! And then, I'm done with them." I say with a growing smile. "Well there you go, problem solved. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go ahead down to the duel room to go and pick out my rookie." Ryo says as she gets up. "Hey! Wait for me!" I say scrambling to get up after her.

To be continued….


	2. Picking out a Rookie

"Damn it Ryo, wait the fuck up!" I pant as I come to a stop, leaning against a wall for a moment to catch my breath. "God, why do we have so many damn stairs here?!" I say to no one in particular. "Come on Jason, the matches have already started. I've already got my eye on one in particular." Ryo says from behind the viewing screen. "Oh? Already?" I say, getting up and walking over to her. She taps a section of the screen and it pulls up one of the matches from the selection. "These two seem to be an odd match. One of them is much more powerful than the other. I never thought the selection machine would make a mistake but I guess it did when these two got paired up." "What do you mean by that?" I ask, curious. Ryo slides the screen over to me and I take a look. "What decks are they using?" I ask her. The match in question is between a young boy and girl. "The boy is using Blackwings, and the girl is using Trickstar's." "Wait, isn't that one of the new Link archetypes? I thought we weren't recruiting from there yet?" Ryo merely shrugs. "Guess the chief decided to make an exception. I think she's the only one to make it here from her home dimension."

I nod in understanding. Traveling across the timelines isn't nearly as difficult as traveling between the different worlds. There are many more dangers existing in the rifts between the worlds. "So how are they doing so far?" I ask, my curiosity sufficiently piqued. "About as well as you'd expect for her. She's losing pretty badly." I tap a button on the screen and a life point counter pops up. "HOLY SHIT, SHE'S USING TRICKSTAR'S AND HE HASN'T EVEN LOST ANY LIFE POINTS?!" I exclaim. Ryo smirks and nods in satisfaction. "He's got potential. That's why I went ahead and got dibs on him." "Hmph, figures you'd take the best for yourself." I say sarcastically. The life point counter indicates that the girl's name is Janice Fang, and that the boy's name is Conor Nevermore. It lists the life points at 8000 and 400. From what the picture shows me, Conor has black hair and green eyes, while Janice is a blonde with brown eyes. I turn up the volume on the viewing screen so I can hear what's happening. "...My turn, I draw! I summon out Blackwing Bora the Spear in attack mode! Then I special summon from my hand, Blackwing Gale the Whirlwind, also in attack mode!" The boy grins in what is apparently a triumphant smile. "Even with that kind of deck, you still can't beat me! Because now I Synchro Summon! Brandish the great blade of myth, heroic raptor! Appear now, Blackwing-Nothung the Starlight! And it has just enough attack to finish off that Holly Angel of yours! Now Nothung, attack Holly Angel and end this duel!" The monster gives a fearsome cry as it flies towards its prey.

But I'm not even paying attention to him or his arrogant attitude and careless dueling. My entire focus is on the girl. The entire time this has been happening, she's done nothing at all. "She's planning something right now, I just know it." I whisper to myself. "Hm? You say something?" Ryo asks looking up at me. "I grin as I see the girls face change from mock terror to sheer delight, and I look up at Ryo. "I said that she was planning something that would change the course of the duel." Ryo's eyes widen a bit and she hurriedly turns to look back at the screen. "I activate the Trap card Storming Mirror Force! When a monster you control declares an attack, all face up attack position monsters you control are returned to your hand, thereby stopping your attack! And since your other Bora got sent back to your hand, Trickstar Lycoris's effect activates dealing you 200 points of damage! And because Lycoris's effect dealt you damage, Trickstar Light stage now deals you an additional 200 points of damage! And now my face up continuous spell card, Dark Room of Nightmare activates! When you take effect damage, this card deals you 300 more points of damage for each time you took effect damage! That totals up to 600 points from Dark Room and 400 from the trickstars! So you're taking a thousand points of damage in addition to losing all your monsters! Then Holly Angel's effect activates! When you take damage from a trickstar monster's effect, she gains that amount as attack points, putting her at 2200 attack point now!" The girl smiles brightly, and I'm smiling with her. "I think I've made my choice. I'll take her, and I'll polish her up myself." I say out loud. "I'll make that deck into something to be feared by every duelist in every timeline." I promise. "Not so fast! I activate my own trap card, Rainbow Life! By discarding 1 card from my hand, any damage I would've taken I gain as life points instead until the end of the turn!" On my screen I see the boy's life point counter shoot up from 8000 to 9000. "But I'm not done yet! I activate the effect of Gofu, the Vague Shadow from my hand! While I control no monsters, I can special summon him from my hand in defense mode! And when he comes to the field, he brings two Vague Shadow tokens with him! I then activate his effect! I can banish Gofu, and 1 or more face up non-tuner monsters I control, and target one Blackwing Synchro monster in my graveyard! By banishing Gofu and his tokens I can bring back to the field, Assault Blackwing- Raikiri the Rain Shower! I'll then use Raikiri to attack your Holly Angel, thereby ending this duel!"

"Hmph, looks like he won after all." Ryo says with a smug look on her face. "Oh shut up, it was still a good duel." I say disappointed. "Just making it a good duel isn't enough in our line of work Jason. You'd do well to remember that." I look back at the screen and zoom in on the girl's face. Tears are streaming down her cheeks as she bows her head in shame. "No matter what, I'll make her a duelist to be feared and admired. No matter what." I promise to myself this time.

* * *

"Alright maggots lineup in order! Now that all the duels have ended, the instructor's shall make their choices on who gets to stay, and who's heading back home." The overseer looks down at his data pad. "First up, Instructor Ryoko Umi, please make your decision on who you would like to train as your rookie." Ryo smirks and steps forward. "I'll take the boy, Conor Nevermore." Whispers go racing throughout the ranks of the other candidates as the boy steps forward, a smile on his face. "Welcome to the force rookie, let's get to work." The overseer calls out a few more names, and they make their choices, but like I predicted, because she lost her duel, Janice isn't selected. Finally, my name is called. "Instructor Jason Storm, please step forward and make your choice." I stand up and step forward. "I'll take Janice Fang." The remaining instructor's are visibly surprised by this and they murmur to each other. Janice looks up with a look on her face that is a mixture of surprise and hopefulness. "Well step forward and greet your superior officer rookie!" The overseer shouts sharply. She flinches and quickly steps forward to stand in front of me. "Be honored rookie, one of our best has chosen your sorry ass to join our ranks." The overseer looks up at me. "I hope you know what you're doing Jason." I nod in his direction and look back at the girl. She still has her head down, and it's fair to say that she's probably crying again. "Well recruit, what do you say to the man who was kind enough save your worthless hide from being shipped out?" The overseer asks harshly. The girl looks up for a moment. "T-thank you for choosing me. I'll do my best not to slow you down!" I nod in agreement. "You better not. I'm taking a risk with you, but I'm hoping that it'll pay off big time, for both of us. Now come on, let's go rookie. We've got an interview to see to."

* * *

"So then, tell me a bit about yourself." I say, taking a seat in one of the chair's behind me. We had left the examination room and gone over to the staff recreation lounge. Janice nervously looks around. "U-um, well, my name is Janice Fang, and I'm a Link Duelist. I was told that I had the potential to be one of the best back home, but I guess I don't really measure up to those from around here." She says looking down again. "Enough of that talk. I don't want to hear another word of that, you hear me?" I say firmly. She looks up in surprise and jumps slightly at the steel in my voice. "W-what do you mean?" She asks frightened. "I mean, I don't want to hear you talk badly about yourself. I saw how you almost turned that around. You have the skill, it's probably just your deck. If you're drawing hands like that at the beginning of every duel, it's likely that your deck is oversaturated with unessential cards. What you need to do, is think of a strategy, and only include the cards that are essential to that strategy in your deck. Once you have the cards you need, then you can add in other cards to support those cards." Janice stands there like someone just took a crowbar and whacked her over the head with it. "W-wha-?" She stutters out. I sigh in frustration. "God, what was i thinking, you're only a rookie. Of course you wouldn't understand that." I stand up suddenly and walk over to her. "How old are you rookie?" "Ah, um, I-i'm 16 sir." I grunt and close my eyes. "So age wise, that makes you three years my junior." I open my eyes again and stare right into hers. "How many duels have you been in before?" Her face blushes bright red and she looks away for a moment. "I-i don't know off the top of my head sir." I sigh again.

"Well then rookie, we've got some work to do before we can put you in the field." A knock sounds out and the door opens and one of the older instructor's walks in. "Hey Jason, I heard the chief wanted to see you about your new recruit. Said that you should bring her with you." I nod in his direction. "Thanks for the heads up, I'll head over there now." He waves and shuts the door behind him. "Well rookie, it might just be your lucky day. If this is what I think it is, you're about to get your first field mission. On a observation basis only of course. Janice perks up and smiles a bit. "U-um, ok? Let's go then!" "Oh, and one more thing." I say to her, stopping her in her tracks. "Calling you Janice all the time is going to become a pain real quick, so what would you prefer I call you? Tell me quick or I'll think of something myself." She looks back at me. "W-well, my friends back home always called me Jan, would that work?" She asks cautiously. "Sure, let's go with that. I say walking out the door. "Ah! W-wait for me!"

To be continued….


	3. A Duel to Remember Part 1

(To all of you who have been reading my stories lately, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am a first time writer, so any feedback you guys have would be much appreciated. Once again I thank you for your support, and I hope you enjoy this chapter)

* * *

"God, How much longer do we have to just sit here?!" Janice complains loudly. "Quiet you. They'll hear you and then our cover will be blown before our mission is even completed." I say using my duel visor to zoom in on the match in front of me. "This is my first mission, and I don't even get to do anything!" "I said quiet!" I snap harshly. "This is a delicate part of the operation, and if we screw up then the whole thing is compromised. So take a seat on that pretty little ass of yours, AND SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Janice says nothing and takes a seat next to me. "Now then, back to buisness." I say, tired of having to deal with her childish behavior. The duel visor comes into focus on the two duelist's in question. "So what's going on down there?" Janice asks me. "Nothing yet, and hopefully nothing will happen. Our job is only to make sure that if something happens, that it is quickly, AND QUIETLY, corrected so that the timeline may continue on the proper path."

The duel visor shifts over to the female duelist and a name pops up on the screen. "Let's see….Aki Izayoi, age 16, deck type is plants. No archetype used." The duel visor pulls up the deck information and begins to cross reference the cards. "Hmm, so far so good. No anomalies in the decks. What about the other one?" The Duel visor switches back to the other duelist, another female, covered from head to toe in dark clothing, with strange markings covering her face. "Name is Misty Tredwell, aged 26 and looking mighty fine for that age. Deck typing is...Reptiles? That's an odd deck. Overall archetype listing is Reptillianes." "So when do I get one of those things?" Janice puts her face in front of the visor. "Gah!" I fall back suddenly as she gets into my face. "Don't do that! Look, if you really need something to do, then go over there and start working on rebuilding your deck like we talked about alright? If something happens trust me, You'll know." At that moment a large burning wall of fire starts to spread quickly throughout the streets. "Ah, looks like it has begun. If all goes according to the story, then in a few minutes the building will start to collapse and jack will rush in to save young Aki." I say leaning back, I turn to look at Janice sitting in the corner messing with her deck.

This has honestly been a lot more work than I ever thought it would be. As I lay there waiting for things to play out, my mind drifts back to the conversation we had in the chief's office concerning this mission. We were standing in her office listening to her explanation of what had happened. "Alright, listen up you two. A few hours ago, some of our scouts reported about some large power anomalies somewhere in the synchro world, centering around the location of what was called "The Arcadia Movement Headquarters". This is the time when it was supposed to have gone up in a cloud of dust and smoke, but for some reason it appears to still be standing there, and the movement themselves seem to have never stopped their operations." The chief explains. "I-is that a bad thing?" Janice asks tentatively. The chief grunts. "In the original timeline, when it fell down, that was the end of the movement. The Arcadia Movement was a group of so called "Psychic Duelists" who used their powers in an attempt to take over the country. The path that they're on now has that becoming a very distinct possibility. Your job you two, is to observe for now, and make sure nothing goes wrong. If it does, then your instructor knows what to do, don't you Jason?" The chief says with a sly smile. "Yeah, I know what to do. Will we be receiving any support on this one?" I ask thinking I already know the answer.

"As a matter of fact, you will. Lieutenant Umi and her rookie will be joining you on this mission. Seeing as her rookie is from there, he shall be acting as your guide for the time being." "That's not necessary and you know it Chief. I'm from there myself, I don't need a guide." She merely shrugs. "It's up to you on whether you use the resources at your disposal Jason, but remember that you're taking a recruit with you, so none of your normal bullshit antics if you please. That's all you two, you're dismissed. Now go get to work."

* * *

"Hey, you done dreaming over there Jason?" I hear Ryoko's voice in my ear. "Yeah what's up Ryo?" I say sitting up. "Found something interesting, a duelist unregistered to this dimension. You wanna take him or should I?" "I'll take him, it'll be less suspicious that way if any bystanders show up." I turn around and walk over to Janice. "Alright rookie, looks like you're gonna see some action after all, let's go."

* * *

"Alright you wanna do this the easy way or the hard way pal?" I say approaching the suspect. He's decked out from head to toe in a black cloak, hiding his body from view mostly. He turns around and throws off his cloak, revealing that "he" is actually a she. "Oh. Well that's a surprise twist. I'll have to tell Ryo she was wrong about the gender later on. "Finally after all of this time, I've found you, the infamous Shiranui Spectre! I'm going to make you pay for what you've done, and I'm going to get the answers I've sought out for so long." The woman says, activating a duel disk that was concealed beneath the cloak. "Oh so you want to do this the hard way huh? Alright then I'll oblige you." I say with a grin, activating my spirit fire duel disk. "Duel System Link operational. Begin Duel." the computer sounds out. "DUEL!" "It's ladies first in this duel, so I'll go ahead and special summon out Linkslayer in attack mode! (Atk: 2000, Def: 600) Since I have no other cards on my field, I'm allowed to special summon him! Next I normal summon Cyberse Wizard in attack mode as well! (Atk: 1800, Def: 800) Then since there's at least one other Cyberse card on my field, I can special summon from my hand Backup Secretary in defense mode! (Atk: 1200, Def: 800) Now appear, the circuit that connects all timelines and gives them life! The summoning conditions are two or more effect monsters, so i'll set Backup secretary, Cyberse Wizard, and Linkslayer as the arrowheads! Now Appear monster! **Link Summon! Decode Talker!** (Atk: 2300) "She smiles triumphantly as the monster appears on the field. "And with that, I'll set one card and end my turn. Your move, Spectre!"

Unfazed by her comment, I continue on. "My turn, I draw!" I scan my hand quickly for something I can use. "Hmph, alright then, I'll use this! From my hand I activate the continuous spell card Call of the Mummy! I'll then use it's effect to special summon Shiranui Spectralsword (Atk: 800, Def: 0) from my hand since I control no monsters! Next, I'll normal summon Shiranui Spiritmaster in attack mode! (Atk: 1500, Def: 0) Next, I'll tune my two monsters together! Appear before us, oh ancient ancestor of the all powerful samurai, and lead us into the future of dueling with your knowledge and wisdom of the blade, **SYNCHRO SUMMON! SHIRANUI SAMURAISAGA!** (Atk: 2500, def: 0) I'll set two cards face down and I'll attack Decode Talker! Go, Shiranui Style Spirit Cut!" "Not so fast! I activate my trap card, Scrap Iron Scarecrow! Once per turn, this negates your attack, and after this effect resolves, I can place this card face down on my field again!" "Fine then, I'll just end my turn there." I say slightly impressed. She managed to stop my first attack and didn't even seem fazed by my first turn synchro summon. This could be an interesting duel.

"In all honesty, I'm surprised you don't recognize me Spectre, after what you did to my home!" I look up from my hand to meet her stare. "What on earth are you talking about. I've never met you before in my life, I'm just here doing my job, removing a duelist who doesn't belong to this timeline. Whatever you think you know about me, you're obviously mistaken about." "We'll see about that. When this duel is over, I'll have you on your knees spilling every secret the Xeno Force is hiding about what happened to my home! My turn now, I draw! From my hand I activate the Field spell Cynet Universe! All Link monsters on my field gain an additional 300 attack points! And once per turn, I can select one monster in either player's graveyard and shuffle it back into the deck! And I think I'll choose your Shiranui Spectralsword!" I wince in anticipation as my graveyard synchro setup is now useless. "Alright then, do your worst to me! I'll take anything you can dish out and return it hundredfold! On my honor as a force member, I'm bringing you in!" I yell confidently. "Not tonight you won't. The time has come to collect the power that lies dormant in this world! Come to me, power of the Immortal Earthbound Signer! I shall be your host and bring chaos to these worlds in your name!" The air suddenly goes still, and it becomes much colder. Bit by bit, I watch as strands of purple light begin to collect around the woman, slowly beginning to envelop her until I can't see her anymore. "Now then, from my hand I normal summon Defect Compiler. (Atk: 1000, Def: 1000) Now appear, the circuit that connects all timelines and gives them life. The summoning conditions are 2 or more monsters. I set Decode talker and Defect Compiler in the arrowheads. **Link Summon!** **FIREWALL DRAGON!** " "What?! That can't be right, only one person is supposed to have that card!" I exclaim in surprise and a distinct feeling of worry begins to set in. "Oh he had it alright, until I took it from him! Now Firewall, Attack his Shiranui Samuraisaga! Go, Tempest Attack!" As the monster begins to power up for it's attack I quickly activate my face down trap card. "Not so fast, I activate the continuous trap card Shiranui Style Samsara! And I activate its effect and banish Samuraisaga from the field!" I explain. The woman smirks. "But that leaves you open to attack now! Go Firewall Dragon, TEMPEST ATTACK!" The beast releases a powerful blast right into my face, but I'm grinning from ear to ear the entire time, very much on the verge of bursting into laughter. "You thought I would really leave myself vulnerable to a monster that strong? Ha, you're not as good as I thought you were! Shiranui Style Samsara's effect! When I banish a monster from my field using it's effect, I don't take any damage for the rest of the turn! Meaning that your attack just now was completely useless!" The woman's face contorts into a scowl. "Fine then, I'll set one card and end my turn."

"My turn, I draw then! Hmmm, I'll normal summon Shiranui Solitaire from my hand in attack mode! (Atk: 500, Def: 0) I'll then activate his effect! I can tribute 1 zombie type monster I control to special summon 1 zombie type tuner from my deck! I'll sacrifice Shiranui Solitaire to bring out Spectralsword once more in defense mode this time! I'll then set 1 card and end my turn." If I can't pull this off, then I'm pretty much screwed. I just have to hope she takes the bait.

To be continued….


	4. A Duel to Remember Part 2

"Any last words before I end you Spectre, or would you prefer to just drift off wordlessly into the night like the rest of your organization, once I'm through with them of course." I glare at her from across the field. "Are you ever gonna make your move, or are you just gonna keep running your trap like a novice?" Her eyes sharpen as she quickly glances down at her hand. "Fine then, have it your way. My turn, I draw! I activate My field spell Cynet Universe's effect! Once per turn, It allows me to shuffle a monster from one of our graveyards into its owner's deck! And I think I'll choose Shiranui Spiritmaster! Next, I'll go ahead and activate the equip spell Fairy Meteor Crush from my hand, equipping it onto Firewall Dragon. When a monster equipped with this card attacks a defense position monster, you take the difference between my monster's attack and your monster's defense as damage! Now Firewall Dragon, attack Shiranui Spectralsword! Go Tempest Attack!"

I brace myself as a sudden, sharp stabbing pain shoots through my right shoulder as the blast connects with my monster and then me. "GAHHHHHH!" I yell out as I'm tossed backwards by the force of the blast. (LP: 5200) "Hmph, not so mighty now that you're the one on the ground are you? I'll set one more card and end my turn." I struggle to get back to my feet, when I feel a hand on my shoulder. Looking up I see Janice helping me to stand up. "I know that deck she's using. It might seem strong, but it has a weakness. If she doesn't have any Link Monsters, then her deck is crippled. Especially if she loses Firewall Dragon." "I'll keep that in mind, but you need to stay back. This might actually be more difficult than I thought it would be, and I don't want you caught in the crossfire."

I take a step forward and stare down at the giant dragon in front of me. "What's your name?" The woman looks surprised for a moment, but quickly regains her composure. "Oh, so now you ask my name? A little late in the fight for that don't you think?" "Either tell me or don't, it doesn't matter in the end. I just thought you might want me to remember you once you were gone." She smirks. "My name is Haos Dedra, and I shall be the one to destroy you! And once I'm done with you, I'll go after that partner of yours, what was her name? Oh yes, Ryoko Umi. She will be next on the list!"

At that moment, I can physically feel something inside me snap. "Oh, is that so? Well then, I'll have no regrets in putting you down. My turn, I draw. I'll start by activating Call of the Mummy from my field! When I control no monsters, I'm allowed to special summon a zombie type monster from my hand! And I special summon Shiranui Solitaire once again! (Atk: 500, Def: 0) Then I activate his effect, allowing me to tribute him and bring out my final Shiranui Spectralsword from my deck! (Atk: 800, Def: 0) Next I'll activate Shiranui Spectralsword's effect from my graveyard! Once per turn, I can banish him and one other non-tuner zombie type monster from my graveyard and special summon one zombie type synchro monster from my extra deck whose level is equal to the total levels of the monster's I banished! I banish Spectralsword and Solitaire!"

"WHAT?! You had another in there?! Damn it, I thought Spiritmaster was the only one left!" I smile a bit, finally feeling the odds shift back in my favor. "Well you thought wrong! Now once again, appear before us, oh ancient ancestor of the all powerful samurai, and lead us into the future of dueling with your knowledge and wisdom of the blade, **SYNCHRO SUMMON! SHIRANUI SAMURAISAGA!** (Atk: 2500, Def: 0) Next I activate Shiranui Solitaire's effect again! When he is banished, I'm allowed to special summon 2 of my banished monsters to the field! And I choose Spectralsword and my other Samuraisaga! Next, I'll tune together my Samuraisaga and Spectralsword and Synchro summon again! Materialize oh master of combat, ruler of all warrior spirits, and lord of the samurai! Strike down your foes with your mighty blade of fire, **SYNCHRO SUMMON! SHIRANUI SHOGUNSAGA!** (Atk: 3000, Def: 0) And once more, I'll synchro summon, using Shogunsaga and my other Spectral Sword! Behold the spirit of the almighty warrior who wields the power of the scorched sun. Lord of the ghosts of the unknown flame, appear and bring this battle to an end with your decisive power! **SYNCHRO SUMMON!** **SHIRANUI SUNSAGA!** (Atk: 3500, Def: 0) Then I activate Sunsaga's effect! By returning Shiranui Samuraisaga and Shogunsaga from my graveyard to the extra deck, I can destroy 2 of your cards on the field! And I choose Cynet Universe and your Scrap Iron Scarecrow! Now that your Cynet Universe is gone, Firewall Dragon's Attack goes back down from 2800 to 2500! Now attack Samuraisaga! Shiranui Style Spirit Cut!" I watch as both of our monsters burst into a radiant light as fire consumes them. "Next, I'll have Sunsaga attack you directly! GO, SCORCHING SUN STRIKE!" Haos cries out in pain as her life points are reduced and she falls to her knees. (LP: 4500) "And with that, I set one card and end my turn. Not bad for someone who was supposedly defeated now was it?" I ask with a mocking tone. She grunts, and slowly gets back up on her feet.

"It's not over until there aren't any Life Points left for me to give, and even then I won't give up! I draw! I normal summon RAM Cloudia in attack mode! (Atk: 1800, Def: 1000) Next, I will special summon my second Backup Secretary! I'll then activate RAM Cloudia's effect, and tribute Backup Secretary and special summon Cyberse Wizard from my graveyard in attack mode! I'll then build the overlay network and XYZ summon! Number 39: Utopia!" (Atk: 2500, Def: 2000) This is wrong, she shouldn't have any of these cards! These are the protagonists cards! They shouldn't be able to beaten as long as they had them! "You…. How did you do it? No normal duelist could have obtained those cards, and I highly doubt that you won them from their proper owners." I can't tell at first, but I am soon able to tell that she is laughing. "Oh, but I did! And I took so much more than just their cards! I took their memories of all the times they had used them as well! So now, even if they get them back by some miracle, they'll have no knowledge of how to use them!" "That's horrible! How could you do that to someone?!" I look over and Janice i shaking from head to toe. "Not only did you take their cards, but their memories as well?! How cruel could you be?!"

"Well look at it this way girly, if they don't have their memories of the cards, then they never know they lost them! Now then, unless you want to be next, I suggest you shut your trap and let us finish our duel." Janice doesn't say anything else after that. "Well then, do you feel like making a little bet Shiranui Spectre?" I look up interested. "What sort of bet? If it involves you walking away from this free, then the answer is no." She laughs a bit. "No no, nothing like that, that's not necessary since I already know I'll win since I have these cards. What I propose is this: If you win, then I'll give you every single one of these cards that I have here, and I'll even return the memories I stole to their owners." "And if I lose, what do you stand to gain?" "If you lose, then I get your deck and you tell me everything I want to know willingly." I take a moment and think it over. If I lose, then my career is pretty much over, but if I win, which I probably will, then I'll be doing a lot more than just protecting this timeline and bringing in a fugitive, I'll be recovering protagonist cards. Now that'll be sure to put me on the fast track to a promotion. "Alright, you're on. Hit me with your best shot!"

To be continued….


	5. A Duel to Remember Part 3

"It's time to end this Spectre! I'll beat you so badly you'll wish you had never picked up a deck in the first place! Chaos XYZ evolution! Appear, Chaos Number 39: Utopia Ray! But I'm not done there, Now it's time for a Shining XYZ evolution! Appear, Number S39: Utopia the Lightning! When this card battles, you can't activate any effects during that battle! Now go Utopia the Lightning, Destroy his Sunsaga! I activate Utopia the Lightning's second effect! When he battle's a monster, I can detach 2 XYZ materials to make his attack points 5000!" I don't even have time to brace myself this time as my entire body is flooded with a horrid feeling of an extremely painful electric shock. "AHHHHHHHHH!" I fall down to my knees, unable to stand anymore, panting in pain. (LP: 3700) "Your end is closing in on you Spectre, with a monster this powerful on my field, I'm completely invincible!"

"You think so huh? Well guess what, you might be invincible, but you're not all powerful! I activate Shiranui Sunsaga's second effect! When a zombie type monster I control would be destroyed by battle or card effect, I can banish 1 "Shiranui" monster from my graveyard and it's not destroyed! Meaning that Sunsaga stays on the field to fight another turn! So I choose to banish my final Shiranui Solitaire!" I say, forcing myself to rise and stand. "Hmph, you're only delaying the inevitable. I'll end my turn there. Let's see if you've still got enough fight left in you to make this fun." I grunt and grimace in pain, as the shocks still haven't left my system. "I swear if I ever get the chance to meet Seto Kaiba, I'm going to kick him in the balls and tell him not to make the damage feel so real in the future! My turn, I draw!" I quickly glance down at the card in my hand and groan in disappointment. "I activate Shiranui Samsara's second effect! Once per turn, I can shuffle two zombie type monsters from my banished pile back into my deck and draw 1 card! I shuffle Shiranui Solitaire and Spectralsword back into the deck! Now I draw! Ah, now that's a refreshing sight! I set 1 card in the Spell/Trap zone and summon Samurai Skull in attack mode! (Atk: 1700, Def: 0) I then activate its effect! When it is normal summoned, I can send 1 level 4 or lower zombie type monster from my deck to my graveyard! And I send Shiranui Spectralsword to the grave! I'll end my turn there! Go ahead and attack me if you dare!" I cry triumphantly.

"Hmph! It would seem that you've already forgotten that if I attack with Utopia the Lightning, you can't activate card effects until after the battle!" "I haven't forgotten, which is why I'll activate one before the battle starts! Shiranui Samsara's effect! Once per turn during either player's turn, I can tribute 1 zombie type monster on the field, and I'll take no damage the rest of the turn! So I'll banish Samurai Skull!" "Well then, since I already know your Spectralsword's effect, I'll hold off on attacking and just end my turn after drawing my card. Let's see if you really can comeback from this Spectre!" Haos mocks. "My turn then! I draw! Perfect! I summon Shiranui Samurai in attack mode! (Atk: 1800, Def: 0) Next, I activate his effect and banish Spectralsword from my graveyard to boost his attack points to 2400! Now Shiranui Samurai, Attack Utopia the Lightning!" "You're insane! Are you trying to kill yourself? Well, it matters not to me! I activate Utopia the Lightnings effect! When this card battles I can detach 2 XYZ materials and make his attack points 5000!" I scream in pain as my body is once more flooded with a painful electric shock. (LP:1100 "Is that the best you got? Because you're gonna need a lot more than that to keep me down!" I attempt to shout, with little success. "The turn that I activate Shiranui Samurai's effect, any monster that battles him is banished at the end of the damage step! Meaning that your Utopia the Lightning is now gone!" I cry out triumphantly, rising to my feet as a portal opens and dark shadowy hands reach out and drag Utopia the Lightning through the portal. "NO! Impossible! Utopia the Lightning can't be destroyed by effects when he attacks!" "Oh, but this effect activates after the attack ends. IT ACTIVATES FROM THE GRAVEYARD! Meaning you can't stop it! Now Shiranui Sunsaga, Attack her directly! Go, Shiranui Style Scorching Sun Strike!" Sunsaga begins to glow brighter and brighter, until eventually it's difficult to even look at him, then all the light transfers into his sword as he charges forward to deliver a devastating blow. Haos screams out in pain as white flames consume her to the point where she can't even be seen anymore. (LP: 1000) "Ugh! Damn it, this isn't good. For me to be brought down this low after coming this far and gaining this much power?! UNACCEPTABLE! THIS WILL BE YOUR END SPECTRE, AND NOTHING YOU CAN DO WILL STOP THAT!" Haos shouts in fury. "Bring it on bitch, I can do this all day long. I end my turn."

"We'll see about that! I draw! I activate the spell card Pot of Greed! This allows me to draw two more cards from my deck! I set 1 card and activate the spell card Monster Reborn to bring back my Firewall Dragon from the graveyard in attack mode! (Atk: 2500 L-4) I end my turn there." "That's it? I was hoping for more. I draw!" Haos smirks. "Not so fast! Now that it's your turn I can activate my trap card Limit Code! Since I have a Cyberse type Link Monster in my graveyard, I can place 1 limit counter on this card and special summon 1 'Code Talker' monster from my extra deck! And I choose Powercode Talker!" (Atk: 2300 L-3) "Fine then, I'll just attack with Shiranui Sunsaga! Once more Sunsaga, attack her Firewall Dragon! Shiranui Style Scorching Sun Strike!" Flames begin to envelop Sunsaga's sword as it grows brighter once more, and as he swings it, and arc of fire shoots out to once again consume Haos. (LP=0. Duel End) Haos falls to her knees, finally defeated. "How? How did I lose?! I came all this way, I gained so much power, just to beat you! HOW COULD I LOSE?!" I walk over to her confidently, pulling a pair of energy dampening cuffs out of my side pocket. "I'll tell you how. Instead of using Monster Reborn on one of your Link Monsters, which can't be set into defense mode, you should've summoned one of your other monsters to defend you. Either way though, whichever monster I attacked would've been destroyed and your life points brought to 0. It's game over, and I believe you owe me some cards." She looks up at me, her eyes full of hatred. "Take them! I have no use for such weak cards!" She says getting up suddenly, dropping several cards on the ground as she jumps backwards several feet. "You may have beaten me today, but this isn't the end! I will get my revenge and find out what happened to my home! Mark my words Shiranui Spectre, we will meet again!" A dark cloud of purple mist envelops her and she disappears into the air. "Dramatic much?" I sigh, putting the cuffs away. I bend down to pick up the cards and take a look at them. In addition to the Utopia's and Firewall Dragon, I notice 1 other that sticks out. "Well, what do you know? I wonder where she got this one?" I say to myself, picking out an Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon.

"So is it over now?" Janice pipes up from where she had been watching the entire time. "For now I'd say it's over. But like she said, it's probably not the last time we'll see her. Come on, Ryo and her rookie are probably done by now. Let's go meet up with them and then head back to base for debriefing."

To be continued….


	6. Respect earns Respect

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR DAMN MIND?! WHY DID YOU LET HER GET AWAY?!" I wince in pain as the chief yells in my ear again. "Damn it chief, cut me some slack would you? The moment she lost, she pretty much just teleported to god knows where. Can't you at least be happy that I did my damn job and recovered the cards?" I ask tiredly. "That's just the point Jason, you didn't do your job! You abandoned your mission for what could've been nothing! She might not have even done anything if you had just minded your own damn business and stuck to the mission! Instead, you left your partner on her own, AGAIN, to complete the mission! And while you managed to recover the Ace cards, that's all that you accomplished! You neglected your rookie in favor of dealing with some duelist who might not have even been a threat!"

"And that's where I have to disagree with you chief." I say suddenly, standing up. "I trust my partner, so when she told me that there was an unknown duelist who wasn't registered in the database as a resident of that world, Of course I'm going to go deal with it. And I didn't abandon Janice, I took her with me. And besides, Ryo is more than capable of handling herself, even with a rookie weighing her down. I did my job, and if you have a problem with how I went about accomplishing it, then bite me, I don't care. If I had any inkling of a doubt about my chances of winning, and the missions success, then I wouldn't have left her alone. But everything worked out, so I don't really get why you're lecturing me about a successful mission." The chief merely covers her face with her hand and let's a long sigh. "Get out of my office Jason, and I swear, if I have to talk to you about this again, YOU WILL BE OFF THE FORCE, Do I make myself clear?" She asks angrily. "As clear as the Crystal Beasts." I turn around and walk out, where Janice is waiting for me.

"So? How did it go?" She asks tentatively, obviously aware that I'm not in a good mood. "Well enough I suppose. I have to hand over the cards, but other than that, all's well that ends well." I look over at her out of the corner of my eye. "So what about you? What did she want to talk to you about?" I ask trying to change the subject. She shrugs. "She asked me what my thoughts were about the mission and how it went. From the way she phrased her questions, I think she was just trying to find some ammo to fire away at you." She says jokingly. "Well did you give her any?" Janice smirks and folds her arms behind her head. "What do you think?" I sigh in frustration. "I never know what to think with you. Come on, I want to show you something." I say, walking away. "Oh? What is it?" she asks enthusiastically. "We're gonna go visit a friend of mine down in the repository. He owes me a favor, and I think it's about time I cashed in on it."

* * *

"Well well, if isn't my favorite customer! What can I do for you today Jason?" I give a small smirk as I approach my old friend. "Hey there Keeper, I'm here to cash in on that favor you owe me. And don't worry, you shouldn't get into to much trouble for it this time." Behind me, I can hear Janice panting after struggling to keep up with my pace. "I should've known as much. It's always this way with you Jason, you just can't keep yourself out of trouble. So, who's this young lady?" The keeper asks me, staring at Janice. "Hm? Oh, this is Janice. The chief decided to make me adopt a rookie as punishment for one of my more recent 'adventures'." "Oh? Is that so? Then I'm going to take a guess and say that this youngling is the lucky winner then eh?" He says with a laugh. "You know, I'm right here. I can answer my own questions thank you very much." Janice says with a huff. "Oh ho, you got a feisty one Jason!" The Keeper laughs again.

"Who is this guy?" Janice asks me quietly. "This is the Keeper of the Cards. He's the one who supplies the force with all of our cards that we put in our decks. He sells cards from pretty much every world, and occasionally, he'll have something extra special for members of the force who perform extraordinarily in the field. Without him, our ranks would be in disarray, fighting each other for the best cards." "Oh come now Jason, there's no need to exaggerate like that. All I do is sell cards young miss. And it just so happens that your mentor is one of my most frequent customers! Which brings us back to our original discussion: What's this favor that you need Jason?" I reach into my deck case and take out the cards that I retrieved after my duel with Haos. "I need you to make some copy cards for me, and to be discreet about it. This is to stay between you and me." I say handing him the cards. The Keeper pulls out a pair of glasses and inspects the cards. "Good Lord Jason! Do you have a death wish?! If your boss finds out that you have these she'll roast your ass over a fire!" I give out a small laugh. "She knows I have them, and I have to return them to the requisitions department, but before I do that, I want to get them copied so that I can use them in my deck, or at least some of them. Not so sure about the Pendulums or the Links, those things still give me a headache." The Keeper nods in agreement. "I hear ya, those things are annoying to fight, and hard to understand. But damn do they sell well! Alright Jason, I'll see is I can't work my magic on them. Come back in about an hour or so and they should be done."

"Thanks Keeper, I'll see you around. Come on Jan, let's get going." I say looking where she was just a moment ago. I look around and finally spot her looking into one of the glass cases. "Oh? Find something you like?" I ask walking over. I look inside the case and see hundreds of Link monsters staring back at me. "They released some new Trickstar support back home it seems." She says, almost sounding sad. "Hey, you're not getting homesick are you?" I say, putting my hand on her shoulder. She shakes her head, not wanting to look me in the eye. "No, it's just….I wish that he was here to see me now."

I open my mouth to ask for more information when a surprised yelp sounds out from behind me. I turn around to find Ryo's new rookie standing over a girl, looking down at her. "Oi watch it! I'm trying to walk here!" He growls angrily. "That's no way to talk to a woman." I say walking over, helping the girl to her feet. "She was in my way, there's nothing more to it." He says starting to walk away. I reach out and grab his arm, with a grip tight enough that I thought I might break his arm if I made it any tighter. "Apologize to her. NOW." He turns back around, knocking my hand hand off of his arm. "Oh yeah? And why would I do that? Or a better question, how're you gonna make me?" He says, getting right up in my face. If it weren't for the fact that Janice was around, I would've laid him flat on his ass right then and there, in enough pain that he wouldn't sleep for weeks to come. "Alright then hotshot, you think you're so great, then how about a little duel? I've been meaning to put you in your place ever since Selection Day. But to make things more interesting, we'll make this a Turbo Duel, since we're both from the Synchro Dimension. If you win, I'll hand over My Ace monster, and if I win, then you'll apologize to her, and never set foot in this shop again. Or are you too much of a coward to fight your opponent in a fair match?" I ask, edging him on. His eyes narrow. "Alright, you got yourself a duel! Name a time and a place, and I'll take you and crush you." He says confidently. I smirk in satisfaction. "30 minutes from now, head down to the Rec Room. We'll use the duel track there. Oh and fair warning, if I find out you hurt anyone else on your way there, I'll make sure you can't walk straight for a week. Come on Jan, we're leaving now." I say, turning and walking out of the room.

* * *

"So are you actually going to fight him?" Janice asks me in the locker room. I zip up my D-Wheel suit and grab my helmet. "Of course I am. What do you think I'd wear this shit just for fun? It itches everywhere and it's tight in places that I wish it weren't. Besides, if there's one thing I hate more than anything else, it's a man who doesn't know how to properly treat a woman." I finish strapping on my helmet and grab my Turbo Deck, making sure all of my normal spells have been swapped out for their Speed Spell Counterparts. "In that case, good luck. I'll be watching from the stands, so you better win." She says crossing her arms over her chest. I smile and place my hand on her head, ruffling her hair a bit. "Now what kind of mentor would I be if I didn't set a good example?" I say walking out the door and into the stadium. There's a surprising number of people here to watch us, but I'm unable to pick out any familiar faces. "About time you showed up. I thought maybe you chickened out like the weakling you are." I look to my left and there he is. "Before we begin, let's make sure we know who each other is. Just to make sure there are no misunderstandings about who beat who." I say. "Fine then, the name's Conor Nevermore, and you better remember it when this is all over." I can't help but grin in anticipation of whatever face he makes when he loses. "And I'm Jason Storm, but to my opponents, they call me the Shiranui Spectre. Now then, I hope you're ready to get your ass kicked, because this shit's about to get real." I say, mounting my D-Wheel. "Right back at ya asshole!" "Duel System Link complete. Duel setting: Turbo Duel. Speed World 2 Field Spell activated." the computer's monotone voice sounds out. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Today we have a rare spectacle for your entertainment! Two members of our illustrious Xeno Force are dueling it out today! So let's give them a roar and get this duel started! Riding Duel! Acceleration!" The MC yells out. "Let's Duel!" (LP: 8000 each) "I'll start things off since I got the higher Rank! I draw! (speed counters: 1) From my hand I activate the Speed Spell: Call of the Mummy! As long as I have 1 or more Speed counters, I can activate this card and special summon 1 Zombie type monster from my hand! So I'll special summon Shiranui Smith in defense mode! (Atk: 1000, Def: 0) Then from my hand I normal summon Shiranui Spiritmaster in attack mode! (Atk: 1500, Def: 0) Then I activate his effect and special summon from my hand Shiranui Spectralsword in defense mode! (Atk: 800, Def: 0) I'll then tune Spiritmaster and Spectralsword together! Appear before us, oh ancient ancestor of the all powerful samurai, and lead us into the future of dueling with your knowledge and wisdom of the blade, SYNCHRO SUMMON! SHIRANUI SAMURAISAGA! (Atk: 2500, Def: 0) And because Spectralsword was special summoned with Spiritmaster's effect, he gets banished when he leaves the field. I'll set two cards and end my turn! Let's see what you got Feathers!" I say sarcastically.

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING FEATHERS?! I'll show you! I draw! (Speed Counters: 2) I normal summon Blackwing- Bora the Spear from my hand in attack mode! (Atk: 1700, Def: 800) Then from my hand, I'll special summon Blackwing- Gale the Whirlwind in attack mode as well! (Atk: 1300, Def: 400) Then I'll special summon Blackwing - Kris the Crack of Dawn in attack mode as well! (Atk: 1900, Def: 300) Now it's time to get this party started! From my hand I activate the trap card Delta Crow- Anti Reverse! While I control 3 Blackwing monsters with different names, I can activate this card from my hand and destroy all face down spell and traps you control!" "Not so fast, because I'll be activating them both! First I activate my continuous trap card Shiranui Style Samsara! Next, I'll chain my Shiranui Style Swallow's Slash! When this card is activated, I can tribute 1 Zombie type monster I control, and destroy two cards on the field! And I choose your Gale the Whirlwind and Kris the Crack of Dawn, and sacrifice my Shiranui Smith!" "Kris's effect activates! Once per turn, he isn't destroyed by spell/trap effects!" "Alright, but you're still losing your precious Tuner monster! Say goodbye to Gale!" Shiranui Samuraisaga raises his sword over his head and moves towards Gale in a blur of motion, bringing his sword down over Gale's head, cutting it in two as it explodes into shards. "Next, thanks to the second effect of Shiranui Style Swallow's Slash, I get to banish 1 Shiranui monster from my deck! And I'll banish another Spiritmaster! And now Spiritmaster's second effect activates! When it's banished, I can target 1 face up card on the field and destroy it! And I choose your Kris the Crack of Dawn again!" "Grrrrr! Fine then! I'll set two cards and end my turn!"

"Ha! Is that the best you got?! I was expecting more from the fearsome Blackwings, but it looks like they're nothing more than a bunch of ruffled feathers! I draw! (Speed Counters: 3) From my hand I normal summon Shiranui Solitaire in attack mode! (Atk: 500, Def: 0) I then activate his effect! Once per turn, I can tribute 1 Zombie type monster and special summon 1 Zombie type tuner monster from my deck! I sacrifice Solitaire to bring out Shiranui Spectralsword in defense mode! (Atk: 800, Def: 0) I then tune together my Samuraisaga with my Spectralsword! Materialize oh master of combat, ruler of all warrior spirits, and lord of the samurai! Strike down your foes with your mighty blade of hellfire, SYNCHRO SUMMON! SHIRANUI SHOGUNSAGA! (Atk: 3000, Def: 0) Now I activate Shogunsaga's effect! When it's summoned, I can banish 1 Zombie type monster from my Graveyard, and gain it's attack points! So I'll banish my Samuraisaga from my graveyard to gain 2500 attack points! (Atk: 5500, Def: 0) Next I chain Samuraisaga's second effect! When it's banished, I can permanently decrease the attack points of 1 monster you control by 500! And I choose your Bora the Spear! (Atk: 1200, Def: 800) Now Shogunsaga, Go in for the kill on Bora the Spear! Shiranui Style Hellfire Sword!" Shogunsaga's blade explodes into flames as it raises it's blade over it's head and swings it down, sending out an arc of fire towards Bora. The monster is consumed by fire, and Conor's Duel Runner nearly spins out of control from the sudden pain and he cries out. (Conor LP: 3700) "And with that, I'll end my turn! At least try and make this entertaining for me kid! Otherwise you have no business being one of us, if you can't even hold your own!"

To be continued….


	7. Respect earns Respect Part 2

"My turn, I draw! (Speed Counters: 4) I'll make you regret calling me a mistake, just you watch! From my hand, I play the Speed Spell: Soul Charge! By removing 4 Speed Counters, I can special summon as many monsters from my graveyard as I want! So say hello to the gang again, because they're all coming back!" Bora, Gale, and Kris, all rise back up from the graveyard in attack mode. "Now it's time to Synchro summon! I'll tune Gale the Whirlwind (Lvl: 3) with Kris the Crack of Dawn! (Lvl: 4) Darkened gales, become the wings which will soar to the heavens! SYNCHRO SUMMON! BLACKWING ARMOR MASTER! (Atk: 2500, Def: 1500) Now Armor Master, Attack his Shogunsaga! GO, BLACK HURRICANE!" His monster turns around and charges at Shogunsaga, slamming it's fist into his torso. "Armor Master's effect activates! I take no battle damage from battles involving this card, and he can't be destroyed by battle! When this card attacks another monster, I can place 1 Wedge counter on that card! And with that, I'll switch my Bora the Spear into defense mode and end my turn! How's that for a turnaround old timer?!"

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU CALLING AN OLD TIMER?! I'M ONLY 19! I'm going to make you regret ever showing up here! My turn, I draw! (Speed Counters: C:1 J:5) From my hand I normal summon Samurai Skull in attack mode! (Atk: 1700, Def: 0) I then activate its effect! When it's normal summoned, I can send 1 Zombie type monster from my deck to the graveyard! And I'll send Mezuki to the graveyard! I then activate Mezuki's effect from my graveyard, allowing me to banish him, and special summon 1 Zombie type monster from my graveyard! And I'll bring back my Shiranui Spectralsword in attack mode! (Atk: 800, Def: 0) Now it's time for my Ace monster to make its appearance! I tune my Shiranui Shogunsaga (Lvl: 8) with my Spectralsword!(Lvl:2) Behold the spirit of the almighty warrior who wields the power of the scorched sun! Lord of the ghosts of the unknown flame, appear and bring this battle to an end with you decisive power! SYNCHRO SUMMON! SHIRANUI SUNSAGA! (Atk: 3500, Def: 0) Now I activate his effect! When he's summoned, I can return any number of Zombie type Synchro monsters from my banished zone or from my graveyard to the Extra Deck, and then destroy the same number of cards on your side of the field as the number of cards returned to my Extra Deck! I'll send Samuraisaga and Shogunsaga back to my Extra deck and destroy your two monsters! Now Sunsaga, attack him directly! GO, SHIRANUI STYLE SCORCHED SUN STRIKE!" "Not so fast! I activate my trap card, Mirror force! This destroys all attack position monsters you control!" "And I'll chain Sunsaga's second effect! When a Zombie type monster I control would be destroyed by battle or card effect, I can banish 1 Shiranui card from my graveyard and it's not destroyed! I banish my Spiritmaster!" "Then I'll activate the effect of my Battle Fader from my hand! When you declare a direct attack, I can special summon this card and end the battle phase!" "Hmph, alright fine then, I'll end my turn. Not like you can do much anyways. Next turn, you're finished!"

"Bring it on! I don't plan on losing any time soon dickhead! I draw! (Speed Counters: C:2, J:6) I activate the Speed Spell: Allure of Darkness! As long as I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can activate this card and draw two cards! From my hand I normal summon Blackwing- Blizzard the Far North in attack mode! (Atk: 1300, Def: 0) His effect now activates! When he's normal summoned, I can special summon 1 level 4 or lower Blackwing monster from my graveyard in defense mode! Come on back, Bora the Spear! (Atk: 1700, Def: 800) Now once again, I'll Synchro Summon, tuning together my Blizzard the Far North (Lvl: 2) and my Bora the Spear!(Lvl: 4) Brandish the great blade of myth, heroic raptor! SYNCHRO SUMMON! BLACKWING- NOTHUNG THE STARLIGHT! Nothung's effect now activates! When it's summoned, I can inflict 800 points of damage to you directly, and make one of your monsters lose 800 attack and defense points permanently! So of course I'm going to choose your Shiranui Sunsaga!" (Atk: 2700, Def: 0) I let out a sudden yelp as pain lances through my body, and my duel runner swerves, but I quickly reign it back under control. (Jason's LP: 7200) "Not bad, but Is that all? Because if so, you're never going to beat me!" I say, egging him on. "Just you wait, I'll make you eat those words as a side to the asphalt that you'll be swallowing at the end of this duel! I activate Nothung the Starlight's second effect! Once per turn, I can Normal summon/set in addition to the one I already used! So come on out, Blackwing- Shura the Blue Flame!(Atk: 1800, Def: 1200) Then from my hand I activate the Speed Spell: Raptor Wing Strike! By paying 2 Speed Counters, I can shuffle 1 Blackwing monster I control back into my deck, and add another to my hand! Then I special summon Blackwing-Gale the Whirlwind once more! And that's not all, because now I also special summon Blackwing- Harmattan the Dust! (Atk: 800, Def: 800) And I'll also special summon Blackwing- Oroshi the Squall! Harmattan's effect activates, allowing me to add the level of 1 monster I control to his own! And I choose to add Oroshi's level to his, making him a level 3! Now I think it's time to test out this card that I won earlier! I tune together my Oroshi the Squall, (Lvl:1) my Gale the Whirlwind, (Lvl:3) and my Nothung the Starlight! (Lvl:6) Ruler and Devil, they cross now and here! Touch the soul of the Crimson Dragon, and raise up the cry of creation! Synchro Summon! Appear! Level 10, TYRANT RED DRAGON ARCHFIEND!" (Atk: 3500, Def: 3000) A blaze of fire appears above Conor's Duel Runner, as it expands, a shape can be seen forming inside of it. It bursts forth from the fire, giving out a terrifying roar that shakes the stadium. "What the Hell?! Where did you get that?! You're not supposed to have that kind of card!" I shout in confusion. "Well like it or not, it's here to stay! I activate Tyrant Red Dragon Archfiend's effect and destroy all other cards on the field! Say goodbye to your Sunsaga!" "Not so fast, I activate Sunsaga's effect, and banish my Shiranui Spectralsword from my graveyard to prevent its destruction!" "Fine then, I'll just attack him then! GO CRIMSON HELL TIDE INFERNO!" Tyrant Dragon's fist becomes engulfed in blazing red fire as it charges toward Sunsaga and slams it's fist into its face. "Once again, I activate Sunsaga's effect and Banish my Shiranui Solitaire from my graveyard to negate its destruction!" I scream in pain as my body is enveloped in a horrid feeling of being burned alive. (Jason's LP: 6400) "And with that I end my turn! Let's see you come back from this ass hat!"

I grunt in pain and reach for my deck. "My turn, I draw! (Speed Counters: C:1, J:7) "Since he was destroyed by an opponent's card effect, Samurai Skull allows me to special summon 1 Zombie type monster from my deck! And I'll bring out Shiranui Samurai!(Atk: 1800, Def: 0) I then activate Shiranui Samurai's effect and banish Shiranui Smith from my graveyard to boost his attack to 2400! (Atk: 2400, Def: 0) Smith's effect now activates! When he is banished, Zombie type monsters I control can't be destroyed by battle this turn! Now it's time to battle! Go Shiranui Samurai, Attack his Tyrant Red Dragon Archfiend!" "Ha! You must be insane, you'll only be taking damage! Tyrant Dragon, destroy his pathetic excuse for a monster!" Our two monsters collide in a burst of fire, and my body is once more enveloped with that horrid burning sensation. "Samurai's effect now activates." My voice barely comes out as a whisper. "When he battles a monster after using his first effect, any monster he battles is banished at the end of the Damage Step." A black portal opens up beneath Tyrant Red Dragon Archfiend, and dark hands shootout, wrapping themselves around it, dragging it down into the abyss. "NO! MY TYRANT DRAGON!" "That's right, now Sunsaga, Attack him directly! Go, Shiranui Style Scorched Sun Strike!" Conor cries out in pain as his duel runner is engulfed in white fire, so hot that it singes my eyebrows even from this distance. (Conor's LP: 700) and with that, I set 1 card and end my turn!"

"What an amazing turn of events! After summoning such a powerful monster, we thought for sure Conor Nevermore was going to win! But our resident hotshot duelist Jason Storm doesn't know how to go down quietly! He manage to pull off a stunning combo and destroy Conor's strongest monster! At this point, it looks like Jason's got this one in the bag folks!" The MC shouts. For a moment, there is only silence in the stadium, silence and the whirring of our duel runners as we round the bend. "Damn you, DAMN YOU! I WON'T LOSE! NOT HERE, NOT NOW, NOT EVER! IT'S MY TURN YOU PIECE OF SHIT! I DRAW! (Speed Counters: C:2, J:8) I set 1 card face down, and then another in my spell/trap zone and end my turn! Attack me if you dare!"

"Alright fine then, if you insist! It's my turn now, I draw! (Speed Counters: C:3, J:9) One more turn, and I'll be able to end you once and for all! Now then, to battle! Shiranui Samurai, Attack his face down monster!" "Ha, you attacked my Blackwing- Steam the Cloak! When this card is destroyed by battle, it special summons a Steam token to my side of the field in defense mode!" "Fine then, Sunsaga, destroy his Steam token!" "Now I activate my trap card, Storming Mirror Force! When a monster declares an attack, I can send all attack position monsters you control back to your hand! So say goodbye to your Shiranui Sunsaga since it can't use it's effect this time!" I growl in frustration as my monsters disappear from the field. "I end my turn!"

"My turn now, it's time to get serious! I draw! (Speed Counters: C:4, J:10) I activate Blackwing- Steam the Cloak's effect from my graveyard! Once per duel, I can tribute a monster I control and special summon him from the graveyard! (Atk: 800, Def: 1200) Now from my hand I normal summon Blackwing- Zephyros the Elite! (Atk: 1600, Def: 1000) Now it's time to Synchro Summon again! I tune together my Steam the Cloak (Lvl:3) and my Zephyros the Elite!(Lvl:4) Wet those pitch-black wings. Resonate with the drizzling rain, single strike of lightning! SYNCHRO SUMMON! ASSAULT BLACKWING- CHIDORI THE RAIN SPRINKLING! (Atk: 2600, Def: 2000) Chidori's effect activates! He gains 300 attack points for each Blackwing monster in my graveyard! And since I have 9 Blackwing monsters in my graveyard, he gains 2700 attack points! (Atk: 5300, Def: 2000) Now Chidori, attack him directly! CHIDORI BLAST!" His monster speeds toward me faster than I can see, and strikes my duel runner head on, and an excruciatingly painful electric shock floods my system and I scream in pain. (Jason's LP: 1100) "And with that I end my turn! Just try and beat me now, you washed up has been!" Conor laughs maniacally. "I must be losing my touch, to be brought this low by someone so inexperienced. But I won't give up! I put my pride on the line for this duel, and I will never quit until the battle's been won! It's my turn, so you better watch out for this comeback! I draw! (Speed Counters: C:5, J:11) From my hand, I activate the Speed Spell: End of the Storm! While I have 10 or more Speed Counters, I can activate this card and destroy all monsters on the field, and deal 300 points of damage to each player for the number of monsters destroyed on their side of the field! And since you're the only one with monsters, you're the only one taking damage! Say goodbye to your Chidori, and hello to 300 points of damage! (Conor's LP: 400) Next, I summon from my hand Shiranui Samurai once more! Now go in for the kill Samurai! End this duel!" Shiranui Samurai's blade bursts into blue flames as he rushes towards Conor's duel runner and strikes it from behind, inflicting the final points of damage. (Conor LP: 0) "Winner, Jason Storm" "What an incredible duel we just witnessed! Honestly, I'm lucky that I even got to see this, because this may have been the most extraordinary duel I have seen in my entire career! Never before have I seen two duelists so evenly matched and yet not at the same time! Let's give a roar of support for our two duelist's today every one!"

* * *

"Damn it! How?! How could I lose?! My deck is supposed to be unbeatable, and even Tyrant Dragon and Chidori were defeated! DAMN IT!" Conor rages as he slams his fist into the ground, unable to contain the tears rushing from his eyes. I walk over to him, my helmet in my hands. "I'll tell one thing kid, you are strong. But just because you're strong, doesn't mean you have the right to abuse that power. Instead, you should be using that power to help those who are less fortunate than yourself. That's one of the things that it means to be a part of the force, protecting the innocent. So get up, and quit crying, because you got a job to do, patroller." I say, offering my hand to help him up. He looks up at me, and then at my hand, and a snarl crosses his face as he smacks my hand away. "I don't need your pity! I'm a man of my word, so I'll uphold my end of our deal. But I will redeem myself, so be ready for it you bastard!" He yells as he storms off. I shake my head in disbelief. "Geez, the kids these days are so out of control. And they expect adults who are barely older than they are to be able to control them. Unbelievable!" From behind me, I hear a set of footsteps rapidly approaching. I turn around to see who it is and I get knocked to the ground my face being shoved into Janice's chest. "THAT WAS AMAZING! That was even better than that duel with that weird Cyberse bitch!" She exclaims, squeezing me tighter. "Jan…..you're…..suffocating me!" I gasp as she releases me suddenly, and attempt to catch my breath. "Sorry, it's just, I've never seen anyone duel like that before! That looked more exciting than the Speed Duels back home! You have to teach me how to ride one of those things!" She shouts excitedly. "Trust me kid, he's got better things to do than teach you how to Turbo Duel. Things such as: A. Telling me what the hell he was doing dueling my rookie, and B. getting back to his job." Ryo says angrily as she walks out of the shadows and stalks towards me. "It's quite simple really. He was being an asshole, so I decided to put him in his place. You know me Ryo, I can't stand a man who doesn't know how to treat a woman properly." I say with a straight face. She lets out a haughty laugh. "Wow, you're one to talk Jason! Aren't you the one who's always flirting with every girl you meet?" "Ehhhh?! You do that?!" Janice recoils quickly. "She's lying! I do not flirt! They come on to me!" I say desperately. "It's pointless trying to deny it Jason, but whatever. I'm just here to deliver a message. The chief wants to see the two of you immediately. Something about that person you dueled before on our mission together." I sigh and stand up again, dusting myself off. "Alright, we'll head down there in a minute. I need to make a stop by the Keeper's place first and pick up some cards that he owes me." "You mean these cards?" Ryo holds up the cards I gave to the Keeper and I feel the blood drain from my face. "GODDAMNIT! I TOLD HIM TO KEEP IT A SECRET!" Ryo simply laughs again in response. "Relax, I'm here dropping them off. I'm not about to rat you out Jason, you won them fair and square." She says, handing me the cards. "Well that's a relief, I thought I was in some deep shit for a moment there. Come on Jan, let's get going before the Chief deep fries our asses!" I say shoving the cards into my deck case and racing off towards the exit. "HEY! Wait for me!" Janice calls out after me.

To be continued….


	8. The King of Games Part 1

"About time you two showed up, you're late." The chief says, crossing her arms as we burst into the conference room, panting and out of breath. "Sorry, I was in the middle of a Turbo Duel, I came as soon as I got the message." I say, pulling up a chair, and staring at the unfamiliar faces around me. "So what's this all about Chief?" I ask curiously. She sighs and presses a few buttons on a console, and a holographic model of Haos pulls up. "I need you to confirm a few things for us Jason, and you too Janice, since you were there as well. First thing, is this the unregistered duelist that you dueled while in the Synchro Dimension?" "Without a doubt." I answer immediately. "Why, you find something out about her?" I ask, pressing for information. The chief closes her eyes for a moment, taking in a deep breath. "Her full name is Haos Dedra, aged at around 16, and her origins are unknown. As of this moment, she's the prime suspect for over a dozen different counts of card theft and timeline alterations. However there's a little more to it than that. We suspect that she's working with a larger group of terrorists trying to change the paths of their timelines." I look at her with a blank expression. "And? Why haven't they been dealt with already? I thought we were supposed to place stuff like that as the number 1 priority in situations like this?" I say, not really understanding. "That's just it, this is all just a theory based on circumstantial evidence, but it's all we have to go on for her motives. We do however, have a possible location for where they could be hiding out. We've detected several anomalies in the origin sector, that we believe might have been caused by abnormalities in the timeline. In other words, people have been tampering with time, and have caused it to change, just in case you didn't get that Jason." "I'm not stupid chief, I know what an abnormality is. So what do you want us to do about it?" I ask, hoping that she'll say yes. "Against my better judgement, I've been advised to deploy the two of you into the field again. You're going to be on your own this time, so if anything happens, we won't be able to help." I stand up, a large grin on my face. "That won't be necessary, we'll be fine on our own. After all, I'm practically a one man army!" I say with a haughty laugh.

* * *

"Ok, now this is just ridiculous! Could they have been any more vague about these coordinates?!" I shout in frustration. "Yelling about it isn't going to help you know." Janice says tiredly. "We've been out here for 5 hours now! We've searched pretty much every area they told us about, so where else are we gonna look?!" I sigh in frustration. "Honestly, I'm starting to think this is a wild goose chase. I mean, if they were here, you'd think that they'd have made their presence known." Janice looks at me strangely. "I thought they would've tried to keep themselves hidden so that we wouldn't find out where they are?" And great, now I feel like an idiot. "Oh shut up, I know what I'm doing!" I say aggressively. "Maybe we should try something different?" Janice jumps down from her perch and walks over to me. "Oh yeah? And what exactly would you suggest hotshot? If you feel like you know better than someone as experienced as me, then by all means, let's hear it!" She glares at me angrily. "Well, I was going to suggest that maybe we ask some of the locals if they've seen anything weird, but I'm pretty sure their only response would be 'you'." She says with a snarky smirk on her face. "First of all, ouch. Second of all, We're not supposed to interact with ANYONE, from this dimension. If we do, we could accidentally screw up the rest of the timelines in the process. It's why this place is normally so heavily patrolled. Then again, as long as we don't run into any of the main characters, I suppose we should be fine. Alright fine, we'll try your idea." I say grudgingly. Her face instantly lights up, her attitude doing a complete 180. "YAAAAY! WE GET TO DO MY PLAN!" I scratch the back of my head, confused at how her attitude could change so easily. "Well come on, we're not going to find anything out by standing around here." I say, walking towards the exit staircase.

* * *

"Now then, where to start?" I say to myself. I look around and spot a few kids with really weird hairstyles walking together. "Damn it, do you even know the meaning of the word wait?!" Janice says as she comes down the stairs behind me, panting and out of breath. "Maybe you should get a gym membership and start working out, because you're going to need to be able to run long and hard without warning on this job." I say back. "Excuse me!" I say quickly, running over to the group. "Hmm? Who are you?" A kid with blonde hair asks. "Ah, I'm just a tourist here with my sister! We don't know our way around just yet, I was wondering, could you possibly point us in the direction of-" A cold shudder suddenly runs through my body and I quickly look up at the sky, only to see that it is turning a deep purple color. I look back at the group of kids and see that most of them have been frozen in time. All except for one. "Hey what's going on here?!" The smaller kid with pointy hair shouts in confusion. "We've been waiting for you Spectre." An ominous voice rings out from the gathering purple mist. "Glad to see you could finally joins us!" The mist disperses to reveal Haos standing there, with a knife held to janice's throat, and surrounded by several goons. "Damn it you bitch, let her go! It's me you want right?! Leave her out of this!" Haos let's out a haughty laugh. "And lose my only leverage over you? Not a chance! If you want her back, you know what you need to do!" I grit my teeth and scowl. "Fine, you want to lose again that badly, have it your way!" I pull out my duel disk and set my deck. "Hold on just a minute, what the heck is going on here?!" The kid with spiky hair asks again. "Who are you people, and what did you do to my friends!" Haos glances at him and rolls her eyes. "Course it didn't work on him. Stupid protagonist armor." She turns to face him, handing janice off to one of her goons as she pulls out her duel disk as well. "They're currently frozen in time, and they shall stay that way until I decide otherwise. Now if there are no more comments from-" "HOLD UP, NO, YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY WITH THIS! Let them go now!" The kid demands again. I turn to look at him. "They're only frozen in time, and believe me, I don't think she has any interest in them. She'll let them go once she has what she wants." He just looks at me like i'm crazy. "You're really going to trust the honor of someone who's dressed like they're in a cult?! Oh heck no!" Haos let's out a deep sigh of frustration. "Alright fine! If it'll get you to shut up, then how about this. We'll duel in teams, you with the Spectre, and me with one of my men. However, to make things more interesting, how about this. The winners of the duel can take 1 item from each of the losers, and if you win, I'll release your friends as well. How does that sound?" The kid smirks as he pulls out a duel disk. "I accept your challenge! Prepare to lose, because when my friends are at stake, I hold nothing back!" All of a sudden, something beneath his shirt begins to glow with golden light. After a blinding flash of light, when I look back at him, he's transformed into a taller version of himself. I sigh in despair as I realize now what's just happened. "The chief is going to have my ass when I get back for this. Well, might as well make this a good last duel on the force. What's your name kid?" I ask, pretending I haven't realized who is yet. He turns to look at me. "My name is Yugi Mutou, and I'm the King of Games! And who are you?" I smirk and look forwards towards our opponents. "The name is Jason Storm, but you can call me the Shiranui Spectre. Now I think it's about time we get this show on the road, don't you?"

* * *

"Duel System Link Operational" The automated voice drones out. "Let's Duel!" (LP: 8000 each) "I'll go first!" Haos shouts as she draws a card from her deck. "I'll start by Special Summoning Linkslayer to my field in attack mode! (Atk: 2000, Def: 600) I can special summon this card when I control no other monsters! While there's a Cyberse type monster on my field, I can special summon Backup Secretary from my hand in defense mode! (Atk: 1200, Def: 800) Then I special summon Cyberse Converter from my hand as long I control a Cyberse monster! So I'll put him in attack mode! (Atk: 1000, Def: 1000) Now come out, my circuit that leads connects all timelines and gives them life! Arrowheads confirmed, the summoning conditions are 2 or more effect monsters! I set Linkslayer, Backup Secretary, and Cyberse Converter in the arrowheads! Now appear my monster, come out, **LINK 3 DECODE TALKER!** (Atk: 2300) And with that I'll end my turn! Your turn now little boy, let's see if the so called, "Protagonists" really do live up their supposed strength!"

Yugi smirks."It's my turn now, I draw! From my hand I summon Breaker, The Magical Warrior! His effect now activates! When he is summoned to the field, he gains one spell counter, and as long as he has that spell counter, he gains 300 attack points! (Atk: 1900, Def: 1000) Next I play from my hand the spell card Illusion Magic! By sacrificing Breaker, I can add my Dark magician from my deck to my hand! Next, I activate Dark Magic Veil! By paying 1000 LP, I can special summon a Dark Spellcaster type monster from my hand. (LP: 7000) Come out my most loyal monster, DARK MAGICIAN! (Atk: 2500, Def: 2000) Next I activate My spell card Thousand Knives and destroy your monster! With that, I'll set 1 card and end my turn!"

The goon steps forward and draws from his deck. "My turn. From my hand, I special summon Cyber Dragon in attack mode! (Atk: 2100, Def: 1600) Next, I normal summon from my hand Vylon Tetra in attack mode. (Atk: 900, Def: 900) Now I'll tune my level 2 Vylon Tetra with my level 5 Cyber Dragon and Synchro Summon! Bloom Pitch Black Flower, Devour this world with your cold flames! Appear, **BLACK ROSE DRAGON!** I now activate Black Rose Dragon's effect! When it is synchro summoned, it destroys all cards on the field, including itself! I'll now set 2 cards and end my turn." Yugi looks over at me. "I hope you have something good planned, otherwise we're open to attack."

"Don't worry about me, I can handle myself. It's my turn now Haos, so prepare yourself! I draw! From my hand I normal summon Shiranui Spiritmaster! (Atk: 1500, Def: 0) And his effect activates now! When he's normal summoned, I'm allowed to special summon 1 level 4 or lower 'Shiranui' monster from my hand or graveyard! And I'll bring out Shiranui Smith, in defense mode! Now I think I'll try out one of these cards I got from you last time! I use level 4 Shiranui Spiritmaster and level 4 Shiranui Smith to build the overlay network! XYZ SUMMON, **NUMBER 39: UTOPIA!** But the fun doesn't stop there, It's time for a Chaos XYZ Evolution! APPEAR, **CHAOS NUMBER 39: UTOPIA RAY!** One more time, it's time for a Shining XYZ Evolution! Appear now, **SHINING NUMBER 39: UTOPIA THE LIGHTNING!** I'll then set 2 cards face down and end my turn!"

"My turn now! I draw! From my hand I play Soul Charge! This allows me to special summon as many monsters as I want from my graveyard by sacrificing 1000 LP per monster! I'll bring back my Decode Talker and Black Rose Dragon! (LP: 6000) I'll set 1 card face down and end my turn! Do what you can, but you won't beat me again this time Spectre! I'll destroy you and the protagonist and take his powers as well! So struggle all you want, it won't make a difference!"

"You done yet? Because it's my move now! I draw! I play the spell card, Pot of Greed! This allows me to draw 2 more cards from my deck! Next, I'll activate a second Dark Magic veil and special summon my Dark Magician back from my graveyard! I'll then activate The Eye of Timaeus! I fuse Timaeus with my dark Magician to bring out, Dark Magician, The Dragon Knight in attack mode! (Atk: 3000, Def: 2500) Now go my dragon, crush their monsters and free my friends! Dark Magician The Dragon Knight attacks your Black Rose Dragon!" His dragon rears back gathering energy in it's mouth, then lets loose a blast of white energy that collides with Black Rose Dragon. "Not so fast, I activate the trap card Negate Attack! This stops your attack and end's the battle phase!" "Then with that, I'll end my turn!"

"My turn again. I draw. From my hand I summon Vylon Sphere in attack mode. (Atk: 400, Def: 400) Next I play the Spell Card, Machine Duplication. When I control a machine type monster with 500 or less attack points, I can summon up to 2 monsters with the same name from my deck to the field. Next, I Link Summon Linkuriboh using 1 of my vylon Spheres as it's material. (Atk: 300) Next, I link Summon again using my 2 remaining Vylon Spheres in order to bring out Crystron Needlefiber. (Atk: 1500) I then Link summon once more using Link-2 Crystron Needlefiber and Link-1 Linkuriboh as the materials, to summon Powercode Talker! (Atk: 2300) I then move to attack with Powercode Talker. Attack his Dragon Knight! I activate Powercode's effect! When this card battles I can tribute one monster it points to to double its attack points. I tribute Black Rose Dragon, boosting Power code to 4600." Yugi cries out in pain as his monster is cut in half by Powercode's sword. (LP: 6400) I then end my turn there.

"Grr, you'll pay for that one. It's my turn now, I draw! From my hand I summon Gozuki in attack mode! (Atk: 1700, Def: 800) I then activate his effect, allowing me to send 1 zombie type monster from my deck to my grave yard! I send Shiranui Spectralsword to the grave! Next, I'll have Utopia the Lightning attack your Powercode Talker, and his effect activates! While this card battles, you can't activate any effects! I'll then activate his second effect, by detaching 2 XYZ units, I can make his attack points 5000!" The goon cries out as his LP drop drastically and his monster is destroyed. (LP: 5300) With that, I'll end my turn."

"This can only go on for so long Spectre, why not just make it easy on yourself? We obviously still have the advantage, so why not surrender? I promise to release the girl if you do." I take a moment to consider the situation. Yugi's down to 6400 LP, the goon is down to 5300, Haos is down to 6000, and I haven't lost any Life Points yet. However, they do have the card advantage, since for the most part they've kept their hands intact, not having used many cards. "I think I'll pass and take my chances." She grins with obvious delight. "Then you have sealed your own fate! It's my turn, I draw! From my hand, I activate the spell card Raigeki! This card destroys all monsters both of you control! So say goodbye to Utopia and Gozuki! Now, Decode Talker, attack him directly!" "How about no! I activate my trap card, Sakuretsu Armor! This destroys your attacking monster, therefor ending your attack!" "Fine then, I'll set 1 card and end my turn!"

I look back over at Yugi, and see he's still struggling to get back to his feet. "Link Summons, Synchro Summons, XYZ Summons, who are you people?! I don't understand any of this! But then again, I guess I don't need to understand that, so long as I understand one thing. My friends are depending on me in this duel, and I can't let them down! Heart of the cards, hear my plea and guide me through this duel! It's my turn now, I draw!" He looks at his card and smirks. "I place one card face down and end my turn!" I look at him in shock. "Are you mad?! They'll kill you if you leave yourself open!" Yugi turns to me and smiles. "Believe me, if they try, they're in for a rude awakening."

"It's my turn now, I draw." The goon says in his monotone voice. "From my hand I activate the spell card Monster Reborn. This allows me to special summon a monster from any graveyard to my side of the field, and I'll choose to summon Dark Magician, The Dragon Knight to my field in attack mode. (Atk: 3000, Def: 2500) Now I'll summon from my hand Goblindbergh in attack mode. (Atk: 1400, Def: 0) I then activate Goblindberghs effect, switching him to defense mode and special summoning Vylon Prism from my hand in defense mode. (Atk: 1500, Def: 1500) I then Tune together my Level 4 Goblindbergh and my Level 4 Vylon Prism to Synchro Summon! Flashing ray that tears through the sea of stars! Roar throughout the world and shake the souls! Synchro Summon! **Stardust Spark Dragon!** (Atk: 2500, Def: 2000) I activate Stardust Spark Dragon's effect! I can select 1 face up monster I control and the first time it would be destroyed by battle or card effect this turn, it is not. I select my Stardust Spark Dragon. Now Stardust Spark Dragon, attack him directly!" Yugi's smirk grows into a full smile. "Not so fast, I activate my continuous trap card, Eternal Soul! This allows me to special summon 1 Dark Magician from my hand or graveyard! So come back, Dark Magician!" (Atk: 2500, Def: 2000) "Then Stardust Spark Dragon shall attack Dark Magician." The newly summoned Dark Magician explodes and returns to the grave again. "Now Dark Magician The Dragon Knight attack him directly." Yugi cries out in pain again as Life Points dip even lower. (LP: 3400) "I end my turn"

"Damn it, this is not good for us. It's my turn, I draw! From my hand I summon Shiranui Solitaire! I then activate his effect! I can tribute 1 zombie type monster I control and special summon 1 zombie type tuner monster from my deck! I tribute Shiranui Solitaire and special summon Shiranui Spectralsword from my deck in defense mode! (Atk: 800, Def: 0) I then activate my Spectralsword in the graveyard! By banishing him and 1 other zombie type monster from my graveyard, I can special summon 1 zombie type Synchro Monster from my extra deck whose level totals that of the banished monsters! I banish my Spectralsword and Solitaire, and Synchro Summon! Appear before us, oh ancient ancestor of the all powerful samurai, and lead us into the future of dueling with your knowledge and wisdom of the blade, **SYNCHRO SUMMON! SHIRANUI SAMURAISAGA!** (Atk: 2500, Def: 0) Next, I activate Shiranui Solitaire's second effect! When it's banished, I can special summon 1 'Shiranui' monster from my banished zone! So come on back, Shiranui Spectralsword! Now I tune my Level 2 Shiranui Spectralsword with my Level 6 Shiranui Samuraisaga to Synchro Summon again! Materialize oh master of combat, ruler of all warrior spirits, and lord of the samurai! Strike down your foes with your mighty blade of hellfire, **SYNCHRO SUMMON! SHIRANUI SHOGUNSAGA!** (Atk: 3000, Def: 0) Now once again, I tune my other Shiranui Spectralsword with my Level 8 Shiranui Shogunsaga to Synchro Summon again! Behold the spirit of the almighty warrior who wields the power of the scorched sun! Lord of the ghosts of the unknown flame, appear and bring this battle to an end with you decisive power! **SYNCHRO SUMMON!** **SHIRANUI SUNSAGA!** (Atk: 3500, Def: 0) I now activate Sunsaga's effect! By returning Samuraisaga and Shogunsaga from my grave, I can destroy 2 cards you control! I destroy Dark Magician, The Dragon Knight and the card in your Spell/Trap zone! No go Shiranui Sunsaga, attack Haos Directly!" Sunsaga's sword begins to glow brighter and brighter until it hurts to try and look at it, then charges towards Haos. "Go, Shiranui Style Scorched Sun Strike!" Haos cries out in pain as the sword cuts through her body, leaving a glowing blue mark where the sword cut her, but it quickly disappears. (LP: 2500) "And with that, I'll end my turn! Face it Haos, no matter how much you try, you can't beat me! I'm just out of your league." She stares back at me with hatred in her eyes. "Fuck you, it's not over just yet. It's my turn! I draw!

To be Continued….


	9. The King of Games Part 2

"Fuck you, it's not over just yet. It's my turn! I draw! I set 1 card and end my turn!" Yugi steps forward. "Then it's my turn now! I draw! From my hand, I summon Berry Magician Girl in attack mode! (Atk: 400, Def: 400) Next, I activate the effect of my Eternal Soul once again! Rise from your grave to serve your true master, Dark Magician, The Dragon Knight! (Atk: 3000, Def: 2500) I set 1 card and then I'll have My Dragon Knight attack Stardust Spark Dragon!" "I activate Stardust Spark Dragon's effect, making him unable to be destroyed by battle or card effects this turn!" The goon lets out a roar of pain as the energy from the attack washes over him. (LP: 4800) "And with that, I end my turn."

The goon stands back, brushing the attack off like it was nothing. "It's my turn now, I draw. I set 2 cards and end my turn there." I place my hand on top of my deck. "My turn now, It's time to end this! I draw! Shiranui Sunsaga, It's time to vanquish our opponents once and for all, GO, SHIRANUI STYLE SCORCHED SUN STRIKE!" Once again, Sunsaga's blade begins to glow as it turns white hot. With one fell swoop, he swings it down upon Haos's defenseless body. "Not just yet! I activate the trap card Limit code! While I have any Cyberse type Link Monsters in my graveyard, I can place a number of counters equal to the number of those monsters on this card and then Special Summon 1 'Code Talker' Monster from my extra deck! Appear now Link-3, Shooting Code Talker!" (Atk: 2300) "Very well then, Shiranui Sunsaga, Attack her monster instead!" Sunsaga quickly changes targets, spinning around to cut the newly summoned monster in half, sending waves of fire across the battlefield. Haos sinks to her knees in pain, as her Life Points drop again. (LP: 1300)

"You're only prolonging the inevitable Haos, and this is all truly pointless anyways. You're a talented Duelist, I can see that clearly, but you're young and naive if you think that I'm just going to let all the crimes you've committed go unpunished, because as a member of the Xeno Force, I cannot allow any injustice to escape unpunished. This is the last chance I'll give you to surrender peacefully." Haos looks up at me, her eyes filled with anger and pain. "Never. If I'm going to go down, I'm going to go down fighting till my last breath!" I bow my head in disappointment. "So be it then. I end my turn." "Good! That means it's my turn now! I draw! I set 2 cards and end my turn!" Yugi steps forward once more. "My turn, Draw! I summon from my hand Lemon Magician Girl in attack mode! (Atk: 800, Def: 600) I then activate her effect, Tributing Berry Magician Girl to special summon from my hand, Dark Magician Girl! Dark Magician Girl's effect activates! For every Dark Magician in my graveyard she gains 300 attack points! (Atk: 2300, Def: 1700) Now I activate the effect of my Eternal Soul once more, adding to my hand the spell card, Thousand Knives! I then activate my spell card to destroy your Stardust Spark Dragon!" "I activate Stardust Spark Dragon's effect, making it so that he cannot be destroyed by battle or card effect once this turn." "Then I'll simply have my Dragon Knight destroy it! Go Dark Magician, The Dragon Knight, destroy his monster!" Yugi's monster rears back, charging energy in it's mouth before it lets it loose. I watch, awestruck by the beautiful display of light before me, as the goon's monster is destroyed. (LP: 4300) "Now Dark Magician Girl, Attack him Directly! Go, Dark Burning Magic!" The goon is blasted back against a wall by the force of the attack. (LP: 2000) "With that, I end my turn!"

The goon struggles back to his feet again. "My turn, Draw. I activate my trap card, Call of the Haunted. This card allows me to special summon 1 monster from my graveyard in attack position. Come back to me, Stardust Spark Dragon." A bright flash of light fills the battlefield, and I'm forced to shield my eyes from it. When it disappears, I see that his monster has reappeared, sparkling as if truly covered in stardust. "Next, I activate my second trap card, Shooting Star. While I control a 'Stardust' monster, I can select 1 card on the field and destroy it. I select Dark Magician Girl. With that, I'll end my turn."

"My turn, I draw! From my hand, I summon Shiranui Spiritmaster! I then activate his effect, allowing me to special summon 1 level 4 or lower 'Shiranui' monster from my hand or graveyard! I special summon Shiranui Spectralsword from my graveyard! I now tune together my level 2 Shiranui spectralsword with my level 4 Shiranui Spiritmaster! Appear before us, oh ancient ancestor of the all powerful samurai, and lead us into the future of dueling with your knowledge and wisdom of the blade, **SYNCHRO SUMMON! SHIRANUI SAMURAISAGA!** (Atk: 2500, Def: 0) Now, it's time to wrap things up! Shiranui Samuraisaga, Attack Stardust Spark Dragon!" "What?!" The goon shouts in surprise. "That's right, I'm gonna make things easier for my partner and finish you off now!" "I activate Spark Dragon's effect, making him unable to be destroyed during this battle!" "Not good enough I'm afraid! Shiranui Sunsaga, Attack his Spark Dragon!" As Sunsagas blade pierces his dragon's chest, the goon falls down face first, unconscious. (LP: 1000) "Participant unable to continue dueling, therefor they are automatically disqualified. (LP: 0) "Now it's just us Haos, Time to finish things. I end my turn." For the first time since I've ever seen her, I almost think that I see genuine fear in her eyes.

"My turn, draw." I see her grimace as she looks down at the card she drew. "I activate my trap card, Recoded Alive! I banish 1 Link-3 Cyberse Link monster from my graveyard and Special summon 1 'Code Talker' from my extra deck. I banish Decode Talker from my graveyard and special summon Encode Talker. (Atk: 2300) With that, I end my turn."

"My turn then, I draw! I activate my Spell Card Monster Reborn! I can select 1 monster from any graveyard and special summon it to my side of the field! Return to me, DARK MAGICIAN! Now Dark Magician, The Dragon Knight, Attack her monster and bring this duel to an end! It's time to save my friends!" "I activate the quick-play spell from my field, Security Block! I can select 1 Cyberse type monster on my field and I take no battle damage during this battle, and it cannot be destroyed by battle!" "Then I'll have Dark Magician destroy it! Go, Dark Magic Attack!" Haos stands utterly still as her monster is destroyed and the shockwave washes over her. (LP: 1100) "Over to you partner. Let's finish this." "I couldn't agree more. Shiranui Sunsaga, end this duel and return everything to normal. Attack Haos Directly."

* * *

"It's over Haos. We've won." I say as I look down at her shivering body. "A deal's a deal. Take what you want and be done with it already." She says, her voice breaking. I walk around behind her, putting her hands behind her back and cuffing them together. "Haos Dedra, by the power entrusted to me by the Xeno Force, I hereby place you under arrest for 15 counts of card theft, and 12 counts of Temporal Tampering." I say in a monotone voice. I take no pleasure from this, but it needs to be done. In the quiet of the moment, I can almost make out the sounds of sobs, coming from Haos. I sigh and walk around to her front and kneel down in front of her. "Don't get me wrong about this, this is a part of my job. But you are a talented duelist, and a beautiful young woman." She looks up at me, her eyes filled with tears. But behind the tears, I can still see the hatred burning as fiercely as ever. "Shut up, I don't want to hear that from you. I know exactly what's going to happen to me as soon as I set foot in there." I shake my head and stare her right in the eye. "I don't know what happened to you in the past, or why you hate me so much, but I am sure of one thing. You won't be killed unless you are found guilty of something much worse than what you've done for sure. And if it comes down to it, you have my word as a duelist that I won't let anyone lay a finger on you more than what's required." It might have just been my imagination, but I could swear I saw the fire in her eyes die down a bit. She hangs her head again, and says nothing else. I stand up once more and turn to face Yugi. "Thank you for your help. It's been an honor to duel with the King of Games." I say with a smile. "Likewise, it was an honor dueling with you too. I underestimated you before the duel started, I apologize for that. You are truly much stronger than I had expected. Perhaps someday we can have a friendly match against each other?" Yugi says, holding out his hand. I reach out and take it, grasping it firmly. "Maybe, but for now this is goodbye. See you around Yugi. Come on Janice, let's go home." I say as I program the coordinates into my transceiver.

* * *

"Well done Jason. You actually managed to complete the mission without any mistakes this time. I'm impressed." I smirk slightly as the Chief says that, knowing that she won't ever know about my interactions with Yugi Mutou. "All in a day's work Chief. But what will happen to Haos now that she's in custody?" I ask out of curiosity. "She'll be interrogated of course for information on the whereabouts of her comrades and what exactly their plans are, but after that, she'll have her memory wiped and be returned back to the Link dimension, where she'll start a new life." I frown as I think back to what Haos said when we first met. "There's something that's been bothering me Chief, maybe you can help me with it." Her eyebrow rises up in mock surprise. "Oh? Let's hear it then." "When I first encountered Haos, she blamed us for the destruction of her home, me specifically, but she seemed to harbor the same feelings toward the rest of the force as well. She said to me: 'When I beat you, I will finally learn the truth about what happened to my home!' What did she mean by that?" For a while, nothing is said, and through the silence I can hear my coworkers rushing about the base, going from one place to the next. Finally, The Chief let's out a long sigh. "Look, Jason, you're worrying over nothing. Obviously, she was mistaken, there's only ever been 6 worlds, and I've never heard of one being destroyed. Or, more likely, she was manipulated into thinking that by the people she joined up with. She's young and impressionable, so it's not outside of the realm of reason." I nod my head in understanding. "Right, well thanks Chief. That's a load off my chest." I say quickly. "Mhm, no problem Jason. Now, why don't you go and get some R&R, I think you've earned it after all of this." "Right, I'll see you around Chief." I say as I exit the office, my heart pounding. She was obviously hiding something, and the only way I was going to get any real answers, was to go to the source. I make my way down to the detainment facility where we keep our newly captured prisoners, and stop at the front desk. After asking for a cell number, I make my way down the hall, until I see the person I'm looking for. "Alright Haos, Let's talk."

To be continued….


	10. The student vs The Master

(To all of you who have been sticking with me and my story so far, First off, I want to thank you. Writing stories like this isn't actually as easy as it seems. A lot of time and effort goes into making these types of stories, such as trying to find interesting archetypes and deck matchups to use for the duels. But that aside, these next few chapters are going to be a little different. I'm sure most of you have noticed by now that Janice hasn't really done much besides be held hostage or just give commentary, but that is because this was her true purpose. I won't say anymore because I don't want to spoil anything, but I sincerely hope you enjoy these next few chapters and the rest after that as well)

"Janice Fang, report to the Division Chief's office immediately. I repeat, Special Agent Janice Fang, report to the Division Chief's office immediately." I look up as I hear my name broadcast over the intercom. "Well well, like Teacher, like student." I hear someone snicker as they pass by. I let out a deep sigh, and gather my things. "I hadn't even finished my lunch yet." I say with a pout. Once I have everything together, I begin my walk towards the Chief's office, attempting to stay out of sight the entire time. It's been about 2 months since Jason left the force, after aiding the escape of the same prisoner he had just brought in for questioning. After he was declared a traitor and shot to number 1 on the most wanted list, I was reassigned to a new trainer, and from there I went on to earn the rank of Agent. No one has seen or heard from him since, not even me or Ryoko. And since I was his rookie, things haven't been easy for me since he left. Everyone else thinks that I might be spying for him or something, so they tend to keep their distance. But in some cases there are others who are more cruel, and simply call me a traitor too. I shake my head to clear my thoughts, and hurry down the hall, hoping to catch the next elevator. "Hold that door please!" I shout desperately.

I see a hand grab the door from the inside, holding it open. "Thank you." I say out of breath as I slide into the elevator. "Don't mention it kid." I look up to see the owner of the voice is Miss Ryoko. "Oh, Miss Ryoko it's you. Sorry, I didn't recognize your voice at first." I say embarrassed. "It's fine Janice, don't worry about it. So, how've you been holding up?" she asks me, watching the numbers on the elevator light up as we make our way down. "Fine I guess. I just wish I knew why he did it. None of it makes any sense. We'd finally brought her in, and then the next thing I know, he's broken her out of the detainment center and both of them have escaped. At the very least, I thought he would've said something to me about it, but he never even sent me so much as a text." Ryo nods her head in understanding. "I know what you mean. I worked with Jason for 3 years, and I thought we were pretty close. Which is why it came as an even bigger surprise for me to learn that he had betrayed us. Still, I'm sure he had his reasons, whatever they might be. If there's one thing I know for sure about him, it's that he has a good conscience. He wouldn't be doing this without a good reason, I'm sure of it…" She leaves the sentence unfinished, staring off into space for a moment before regaining her composure. "But anyway, enough about that. I'm guessing you're heading to meet with the Chief as well right? She called me down there a little while ago and I'm heading down there to check in with her now." I look at her in confusion. "Wait, why is she calling you as well? Do you think it might have something to do with Jason?" I ask worriedly. "The thought crossed my mind. We'll just have to see when we get there." A moment later, the elevator dings as the door opens, and we make our way to the Chief's office.

"You're both late. Especially you Ryoko. You're both on thin ice as it is. Make me wait this long again, and I'll assume you went off to join your traitorous friend." The Chief says as we walk in. "I came as soon as I heard the announcement." I say with a pout. "What is it Chief, another assignment?" Ryo asks impatiently. "As a matter of fact yes." She reaches behind her desk and pushes a button, a small map of the dimensional layout appears in front of us on a holographic display, with a bright red flashing dot quickly catching my attention. "We've received an anonymous tip that your old 'friend' Jason will be in town for some business tonight in the Synchro Dimension. I'm assigning the both of you to take care of this. Consider it a way of proving your selves to us, proving that you aren't in league with this traitor anymore. Your orders are to bring Jason Storm in, alive or dead, I don't care which. Either way, he'll be made an example of what happens when you betray the oath you swear to uphold. Do I make myself clear on all of this?" I quickly stand at attention and salute her. "Yes mam!" The chief smiles. "Good, now get going. I have other business to attend to."

* * *

"So how reliable is this tip do you think?" I ask Ryoko through the radio from my position atop the nearby rooftop. "Try and keep radio silence if at all possible Janice, and to answer your question, I don't trust it one bit. But orders are orders. It's our job to bring him in, regardless of our past with him." I switch my radio off for a moment and let out a long sigh. "Why did you have to leave Jason? What in the world could have made you up and leave everything and everyone you know, for some criminal?" I say out loud. "Trust me kid, I didn't mean to hurt you or anyone else." I whirl around to see my old mentor, standing in front of me as if nothing had happened, and for a moment, it almost seems like nothing had. "Jason? Is that really you?" I say, unsure of whether or not I'm dreaming or this is an illusion of some kind. "In the flesh kiddo, how've you been? Has everyone else been treating you alright? Actually no wait, stupid question. It's me we're talking about, they probably hate your guts because of me. And Ryo's probably getting some of the backlash too." He looks down in what seems to be shame. "I'm sorry you had to go through all of that because of me Jan. It was never my intention to put you or Ryo through any of this. There were things I needed to take care of. Sins I needed to atone for." I look at him with tears in my eyes. Tears of anger, and hate. Tears of sadness, and longing for the days of old. Tears of joy at being able to see him again and knowing he was still in one piece. But mostly I felt the sting of betrayal again. He wasn't here apologizing for what he'd done, he was apologizing for us getting caught up in what he did, something he had no control over. "Answer one question for me Jason. Why? Why did you do it? It doesn't make any sense. None of it does." I say trying my hardest to keep my voice from cracking up, and to hold back the tears. He looks back up at me, a far away look in his eyes, then they quickly focus back in on me. "How much dueling have you done lately? Any new opponents you've found challenging?" he says, ignoring my question. "Answer me damn it! You owe me that much at least after all the pain you've caused me!" I shout in frustration and anger. He winces in surprise from the volume of my shout. "I'll tell you what Jan, why don't we have a duel? Technically, you're supposed to have a graduation duel once you complete your training to become an official agent, but because of me, that never really happened for you did it? So let's have your graduation duel here and now, and if you win, I'll answer every question you have. But if I win, I walk away from this encounter, and you never tell anyone, not even Ryo, that you saw me. Sound fair?" I glare at him, the anger seeping out of me. All he ever cares about is dueling. "Alright fine then, I know that's the only way to get my message through that thick skull of yours, so bring it on! I'm not nearly as weak as I was back then!" I say, activating my duel disk. He gives a small smile, and pulls out his duel disk, activating it. "Duel System Link Operational. Format setting: Master Rules 4, Link format." The duel disks automated voice drones out. "Let's duel!"

"I'm going to take the first turn, so I hope you don't mind Jason! I draw! From my hand, I activate the field spell Trickstar Light Stage! When this card is activated, I am allowed to search a Trickstar monster from my deck and add it to my hand! Next I normal summon Trickstar Candina! (Atk: 1800, Def: 400) Her effect now activates! When she is normal summoned, I can search 1 Trickstar card from my deck and add it to my hand! Next, I activate the effect of Trickstar Lycoris from my hand! By returning a faceup Trickstar on my field to my hand, I can special summon her! So I'll put her in defense mode! (Atk: 1600, Def: 1200) I set two cards and end my turn there!"

Jason puts his hand over his deck, closing his eyes. "My turn, I draw!" he says, opening his eyes to reveal a new blazing fire in his eyes. "Not so fast!" I say, cutting him off. "Trickstar Lycoris's effect now activates! Whenever you draw a card, you take 200 points of damage! And now Trickstar Light Stage's effect activates! Anytime you take effect damage from a Trickstar monster's effect or battle, you take an additional 200 points of damage!" (Jason LP: 7600) " Hmph, not bad kid, you have gotten better. From my hand I normal summon Shiranui Spiritmaster! (Atk: 1500, Def: 0) His effect now activates! When he is normal summoned, I can special summon 1 level 4 or lower Shiranui monster from my hand or graveyard to my side of the field! I special summon from my hand, Shiranui Smith! (Atk: 1000, Def: 0) Next, I build the overlay network using my 2 level 4 monsters! I Xyz summon, Number 39: Utopia! But I won't stop there, it is time for you to evolve Utopia! Chaos Xyz Evolution! Appear Chaos Number 39: Utopia Ray! Now it is time for your final evolution Utopia! I rebuild the overlay network using my Utopia Ray as the material! Shining Xyz Evolution! Appear now, Shining Number 39: Utopia the Lightning! (Atk: 2500, Def: 2000) Now Utopia, it is time to attack! Destroy her Lycoris!" Utopia draws it's swords, each blade crackling with electricity, growing brighter and louder by the second. "Utopia the Lightning's effect now activates! When he attacks, you cannot activate cards or effects until the end of the Damage step! Go Utopia, Lightning Blade of Thunder!" Utopia charges in, swinging it's swords over it's head, bringing them down upon Lycoris, who throws her hands up to try and protect herself, but they simply cut through her. "With that, I set 1 card and end my turn. Let's see what else you've got Jan."

"It's my turn now, I draw! From my hand, I once again normal summon Trickstar Candina! (Atk: 1800, Def: 400) Her effect activates again, allowing me to search a Trickstar card from my deck, and add it to my hand! I now activate the effect of the Lycoris I just added to my hand! I can return 1 face up Trickstar monster from my side of the field to the hand and Special summon Lycoris in their place! So come on out in defense mode Lycoris! (Atk: 1600, Def: 1200) Next I activate the spell card Dark Room of Nightmare! Now each time you take effect damage, you take an additional 300 points of damage! With that, I end my turn!"

"My turn, I draw!" "Trickstar Lycoris's effect once again activates, inflicting 200 points of damage, plus the 200 points from Light stage! Then Dark Room of Nightmare activates, inflicting an extra 300 for each of them! So that totals up to 1000 points of damage!" (Jason's LP: 6600) "From my hand, I activate the field spell, Zombie World! This causes all Monsters on the field to become Zombie type, and you can only tribute summon Zombie type monster's from your hand! Next, I normal summon from my hand Gozuki! (Atk: 1700, Def: 800) I now activate his effect, sending 1 zombie type monster from my deck to the graveyard! I send Shiranui Spectralsword from my deck to the grave! Now Gozuki, attack her Lycoris!" "Not so fast, I activate my trap card, Negate Attack! This card negates your monster's attack and ends the battle phase!" "Then I'll end my turn by placing 1 card face down. Your move Janice."

"My turn, Draw! I summon from my hand Trickstar Lilybell! (Atk: 800, Def: 2000) When Lilybell attacks, she can attack you directly! No go Lilybell, demonstrate what I just said!" Not so fast, I activate my trap card Shiranui Style Samsara! I banish 1 zombie type monster I control, and this turn, I take no damage! I banish Gozuki!" "Grrr, fine then! I end my turn!"

"My turn, I draw!" "Lycoris's effect! You take 200 points of damage from her, 200 from Light Stage, and 600 from Dark Room of Nightmare!" "I don't think so! I activate Shiranui Style Samsara's effect once more! Since Utopia The Lightning is treated as a Zombie type monster, I can banish him and take no damage this turn!" "What?! It works on effect damage as well?!" "Indeed it does! Now from my Graveyard, I activate the effect of my Shiranui Spectralsword! I tune him together with my level 4 Shiranui Spiritmaster and banish them from my graveyard in order to synchro summon from beyond the grave! Appear before us, oh ancient ancestor of the all powerful samurai, and lead us into the future of dueling with your knowledge and wisdom of the blade, **SYNCHRO SUMMON! SHIRANUI SAMURAISAGA!** (Atk: 2500, Def: 0) Now from the banished zone, I activate Shiranui Spiritmaster's effect! When he is banished, I can target 1 face up card on the field and destroy it! I choose your Trickstar Lycoris! Now to battle! Shiranui Samuraisaga, attack her Lilybell! Shiranui Style Soul Slash!" I cry out as pain floods my body, and I watch as Lilybell bursts into flames upon contact with Samuraisaga's sword. (Janice LP: 6300) With that, I end my turn. It's true, you have improved Janice. But you are still not yet ready to be able to beat me. Your feelings still hold you back. Let go of the past, and look forward towards the future. Look forward to the bright and happy times that are ahead, just like you used to."

"Shut up and duel you son of a bitch." I say, my anger finally breaking through the seal I tried to keep it behind. "If it weren't for you, none of this would have happened! I'm going to beat you, and when I do, You'll tell me everything I want to know! Then I'll decide whether or not if I should hold onto the past or not!"

To be continued….


	11. The Student vs The Master Part 2

"It's my turn, I draw! From my hand I activate the Equip Spell Card Trickstar Magicarolla! I can target 1 Trickstar monster in my graveyard and special summon it by equipping it with this card! What's more, is that every time the monster equipped with this card inflicts effect damage to you, I can special summon a Trickstar from my hand! I target Trickstar Lycoris and special summon her in defense mode! Next, I activate my Trap card Gift of Greed! This card forces my opponent to draw 2 cards! And Lycoris's effect now activates! Each time you add a card to your hand, you take 200 points of damage! Next, my field spell Trickstar Light Stage activates, inflicting 200 more points of damage! And finally, Dark Room of Nightmare activates, inflicting a total of 900 damage to you! Add it all up, and you're taking 1500 points of damage! (Jason LP: 5100) And since my lycoris inflicted damage to you, I can special summon my Trickstar Candina from my hand! (Atk: 1800, Def: 400) With that, I end my turn!"

"Not bad Janice, but this duel is just about over now. It's my turn, I draw!" "Not so fast, did you already forget about Lycoris? You're taking another 1000 points of damage thanks to my combo!" (Jason LP: 4100) " I didn't forget, I just chose to ignore it since it won't matter soon. From my hand, I summon Shiranui Solitaire! (Atk: 500, Def: 0) I activate his effect! I can tribute 1 zombie type monster I control and special summon 1 zombie type tuner monster from my deck! I sacrifice Shiranui Solitaire and Special Summon Shiranui Spectralsword from my deck! (Atk: 800, Def: 0) I now tune together my Level 2 Shiranui Spectralsword with my Level 6 Shiranui Samuraisaga! Materialize oh master of combat, ruler of all warrior spirits, and lord of the samurai! Strike down your foes with your mighty blade of hellfire, **SYNCHRO SUMMON! SHIRANUI SHOGUNSAGA!** I activate Shiranui Shogunsaga's effect! I banish my Shiranui Samuraisaga from my graveyard in order to transfer his attack points to Shogunsaga! (Atk: 5500, Def: 0) From my hand, I now activate the Spell Card Raigeki, Destroying all of your monsters and breaking your combo!" "Not quite! Trickstar Candina's effect now activates! When my opponent activates a spell or trap card, they take 200 points of damage! And thanks to my Field spell and Dark Room of Nightmare, that's a total of 1000 points of damage!" (Jason LP: 3100) "Now to battle! Shiranui Shogunsaga, attack her directly! Shiranui Style, Hellfire Sword!" Shogunsaga's sword bursts into bright red flames, as he jumps into the air, swinging it over his head and bringing it down, cutting through me with a lancing, burning pain so intense it feels as though I'm being burned all the way down to my soul. "AAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUGGHHH!" I cry out in pain, falling to my knees, staring up at the sky. (Janice LP: 800) "And with that, I set 2 cards and end my turn. Now that my turn has ended, Shiranui Shogunsaga's attack points return to normal. (Atk: 3000, Def: 0)"

I stay as I am, simply staring up at the sky, thinking back to the first time I met Jason. The first words he said to me, were nothing but encouragement, telling me I had the potential, and not to beat myself up about how I wasn't any good. If it weren't for him, I probably would've gone back home and given up dueling. He saved me that day, and now, I feel as though it's my turn to save him from whatever mess he's gotten himself into now. I struggle to my feet and look over at him, seeing the fire in his eyes, the excitement, it fills me with the determination to win. "I might be low on Life Points, but if there was one thing I learned from you, it's that the duel isn't over till it's over! It's my turn now, and this draw will determine everything! I draw!" I look at the card, and my smile widens even more. "From my hand, I activate the spell card, MONSTER REBORN! This allows me to select 1 monster from either player's graveyard and summon it to my side of the field! I summon Trickstar Candina in attack mode! (Atk: 1800, Def: 0) Next from my hand I normal summon Trickstar Nightshade! (Atk: 100, Def: 0) Appear my circuit of dreams and hope! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are 2 or more 'Trickstar' monsters! I set Trickstar Candina and Nightshade in the arrowheads and Link summon! **Appear, Link-2 Holly Angel**! (Atk: 2000) From the graveyard, Trickstar Nightshade's effect activates! When she is used as material for a Link summon, I can special summon her back to my field! Now Holly Angel's effect activates! When a Trickstar monster is normal or special summoned to a zone she points to, you take 200 points of damage! And with the rest of my combo, that totals up to a 1000 points! (Jason LP: 2100) But I'm not done there! Appear my circuit of courage and determination! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are 2 or more Fairy type monsters! I set Trickstar Holly Angel and Nightshade in the arrowheads! **Appear, Link-3 Trickstar Foxywitch!** (Atk: 2200) Trickstar Foxywitch's effect activates! When this card is special summoned, you take 200 points of damage for each card you control! Counting the 4 cards in your spell/trap zone, and Shiranui Shogunsaga, that's a total of 5! So that's 1000 points of damage! (Jason LP: 1100) But it doesn't end there! Trickstar Light Stage deals you 200 more! (Jason LP: 900) And finally, Dark Room of Nightmare's effect activates, inflicting 600 points of damage! (Jason LP: 300) Now to battle! Trickstar Foxywitch attacks Shiranui Shogunsaga!" "Well Jan, it's been fun, but this is where it ends it seems." Jason says with a satisfied smirk on his face. "You're right about that Jason, it ends here! I activate Trickstar Carobein's effect from my hand! By sending her to the graveyard when one of my Trickstar monster battles, I can have it gain attack points equal to its original attack! So Trickstar Foxywitch's attack doubles! (Atk: 4400) Game Over Jason!" (Jason LP: 0)

* * *

"It's finally over huh. Heh heh, not too shabby there Jan, not too shabby. I'm honestly a bit surprised. You were actually able to hand me my first loss. I couldn't be prouder." Jason says, slowly standing up from his kneeling position, a small smile of pride on his face. "Shut up, I didn't ask for you to be proud of me. All I want now is some answers. Starting with what made you up and abandon us like that. It had better have been important, or I'm going to kick your ass right here and now." I say angrily. Jason's smile disappears, and he looks away for a moment. "Tell me Jan, what do you know about the 6 dimensions?" I groan, sensing that there's going to be a story behind this. "There are 6 dimensions that the Xeno Force is sworn to protect. First, there's the Origin Sector, from which all the other dimensions originated. Second, is the Fusion dimension. Third, the Synchro dimension. Fourth is the Xyz dimension. Fifth is the Pendulum Dimension with all of it's unique dimensions included. Finally, there's my home dimension, the Link dimension. These 6 dimensions make up the universe as we know it, and the Xeno Force is tasked with patrolling the timelines of each dimension, ensuring that no timeline deviates from its natural course." I say, repeating the same thing that was drilled into my head in basic training. "You are only partially correct in that statement Jan. While those 6 dimensions are all that you know about, there was a 7th dimension. A dimension that has been lost to time. A dimension that was destroyed by the same people sworn to protect it. And I was the one who destroyed it." Jason says, still not looking up at me. I'm speechless for a moment, struggling to regain my composure. "What do you mean you're the one who destroyed it?! And that's assuming I believe your crazy story! I've never heard of a 7th dimension, or a dimension ever being destroyed for that matter!" I say exasperated. Jason lets out a faint sigh and finally looks me in the eye, showing me that they're full of sorrow and regret. "Like I said, of course you haven't heard of it. It's name was erased from any and all records, and it's denizens were all but killed off in a great purge. Only a few of them managed to escape with their lives, and one of them was Haos. All that stuff she was spouting off before about me destroying her home was true. Back then, I was a rookie like you, and I got assigned a top secret mission straight from the top brass themselves. The mission was to go in and put down an insurgency that was threatening to disrupt the timeline of that world. Little did we realize that the so called 'insurgency' included the entire population of that dimension. We were shown a picture of the uniform the insurgency would be wearing, and so we went in and eliminated everyone we found with that uniform. Women, Children, Old and young, none of them were spared. I don't remember very much after that, it's all a blur really." Jason explains, taking a more comfortable position. "None of that answers my question though. Why did you leave, and without telling me or Miss Ryoko what was going on? We could've helped you, or done something about it!" I say frustratedly. "That's just it Jan, you couldn't have done anything. Neither of you could, this is something that I needed to do on my own. My sins are mine and mine alone. No one else needs to bear my burdens as their own." A loud beeping sound interrupts us and Jason looks at his watch. "Well, it seems my time here is up. I'll see you round Jan." He says, waving goodbye. "Hold it, where do you think you're going?!" I say running after him. He jumps off the roof and into the alley below, disappearing without a trace. "Damn it! He stalled me for time! Stupid son of a bitch! I should've known he was up to something." I growl angrily. A spark of light catches my eye, and I spot a card lying on the ground, with a note laying next to it. I walk over and pick up the note, reading it to myself.

"Dear Jan, sorry I had to leave like that, but I had a time limit for how long I could see you guys. The others here still don't trust me yet, and I can't say I blame them after all I've done. I'm just glad they've accepted that I want to try and fix what I did. But that's beside the point. I'm glad I got to see you again. You've grown up a lot in these two months we've been apart, I'm just sad I couldn't be there to witness it myself. Oh btw, if you ever see that Conor kid again, give him the card you find with this note. I banned him from the keeper's shop, and even though I know he's probably broken his promise, I still found a card that would help his deck a bit. Who knows, maybe I'll find something for you too someday. Take care of yourself Jan, I'll be seeing you around.

-Jason

"That son of a bitch." I sigh as I fold the note and tuck it away into my pocket, switching my radio back on. "Let's call it a night, I don't think he's gonna show."

To be continued….


End file.
